We followed behind a stream of chinese tourists into Rickety Bridge one rainy Saturday morning to meet with Wynand Grobler, winemaker at Rickety Bridge. Quickly we were tucked away in a corner of the cellar out of the tourism bustle and in no time Wynand had us wrapped around his funny finger and enthusiastically enjoying his deliciously elegant wines.
Find out more about Wynand from this Q&A below and from our short video interview with him.
What inspired you to make wine for a living?
The lifestyle, the product (& the possibility of endless amounts of it), the places you see & the people you meet..
What excites you about making wine?
We are rewriting the rulebooks! Anything is possible, nothing is set in stone and to be involved in an ever evolving and exciting industry gets and keeps me going!
What are some of your favourite aspects of your wine region?
The awesome winemakers and friends in the Franschhoek Valley as well as the typical characteristics pulling through in their wines that differentiates us as a region.
Tell us about your best wine that you have brought to the market and what it felt like creating and sharing it?
It has to be the Foundation Stone – it is a wine that is made old school; whole bunch & natural ferments with no outside influence, terroir in a bottle, as pure as it gets!
What’s your favourite wine and why?
Mostly Shiraz/Rhone style blends as they tend to have a bit more soul and character – The majority of producers doing these blends tend to push the boundaries and most of these wines are made with passion and feel…
What would your message be to people discovering and drinking wine for the first
time?
Drink it if you like it, don’t drink it if you don’t, know matter what anyone tells you. Experiment and be brave when trying out something new. Remember wine is alive and keeps evolving!
Wine lingo – your favourite wine word and what it means?
One of my favourite sayings I’ve heard being used: “This wine yields more fruit than a Tornado in Florida.”
