Bernhard Veller is all business. Astute, efficient, quick thinking, ready to move on to the next item on the agenda, invariably two steps ahead. He talks about finance, economics, and branding.
Vintage 18
But at heart, he's the very antithesis, an unexpectedly fun-loving family man, being bossed around by his wife and getting goofy with the kids.
He likes nothing better than to don his favourite pair of long cotton baggies with chilli pepper motif and his banged-up old Crocs and get grubby over a big braai fire, making good food and drinking healthy quantities of wine.
These two sides to one man have found happy confluence on a small wine farm called Nitída.
Bernhard Veller, born and raised in Johannesburg, is of German parentage and was educated at the German School. His family lineage speaks of risk-taking, breaking new ground, following a dream.
His grandfather emigrated from Germany to South Africa during the Great Depression of the 1930s, starting from scratch with a small electrical business.
His father subsequently went into business, eventually becoming CEO of a multinational corporation.
His mother's family, also of German descent, came to South Africa via Namibia (formerly South West Africa and once a German colony) as accountants and doctors.
Bernhard's head took him to Wits University for a B.Sc. in metallurgical engineering, followed by a Masters in chemical engineering.
After a year-and-a-half working as a metallurgist at Elandsrand Gold Mine, he turned his hand to project engineering at the South African Nuclear Energy facility in Pelindaba in North West Province. Subsequent senior management positions at several manufacturing companies followed.
But his heart had always longed for the rural life, space, and a place to raise a family with wife Peta (a commerce graduate who'd gone into advertising).
So when his career brought him to Cape Town as MD of an industrial instrumentation company in 1990, the couple started looking beyond the city and suburban limits.
'It wasn't entirely romance; it was also practical. The company was on this side of Cape Town. I didn't want to sit in traffic all day; life's too short.'
They found the perfect spot in Durbanville on the slopes of one of the Kanonkop hills. The 35 hectares came with a rather ordinary house', 50 sheep plus a sheepdog, two cows, and a man called Klaas (who apparently knew how to milk a cow, and how to drive the derelict 1971 Ford tractor hiding in an old shed).
Acquiring the land proved an unexpected challenge: too small for a Land Bank loan, too big for support from a commercial bank. Cue in the proverbial fairy godmother (or godmother-in-law) ...
Barbecued beef sirloin with three spontaneous salads recipe by Bernhard Veller....
Roast herbed chicken and Mediterranean vegetables on ciabatta with potato salad recipe by Bernhard Veller....