Jeff Grier now cellarmaster, applied to Stellenbosch University for a degree in agricultural management with a view to joining the family chicken business. This Diocesan College (Bishops) old boy found himself in the heart of the Cape Winelands.
Vintage 28
It wasn't long before Jeff Grier had changed his specialisation from poultry farming to wine production. 'A chicken tasting could never quite match up to a wine tasting,' he says dryly.
Jeff Grier decision was to set the entire Grier family on a delightfully different course: from a poultry business in Constantia to a wine farm in Stellenbosch to a vineyard in the south of France.
Jeff’s life has been imbued with the culture of food and wine. His late father Robin studied at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, and worked in hotels all over the world before returning to South Africa, where he eventually became involved in developing County Fair Chicken before selling his shares and investing in a wine farm called Villiera in 1983.
Sister Cathy is a graduate of the Prue Leith Cookery school in London. Cousin David is a South African hotel-school graduate, chef and restaurateur, now a professional adventure racer.
Jeff Grier, on the other hand, reckons he's no cook. 'Although I have a favourite aubergine dish and a beautiful paella, I'm more frequently involved in braaing than in the kitchen. That's Lynne's domain: I'm outside doing the meat, she's inside making wonderful salad and vegetable accompaniments. You see, we make a really great team', he deadpans.
'Just us enjoying good food and wine with friends: that's happiness.'
Leaving the cheffing to others, Jeff's been devoted to making the wines on Villiera for close on three decades. His work has been at the core of one of the Cape's most popular wine farms; sought after locally and internationally for a rare combination of quality, variety and pocket appeal. 'Friendly' and 'down to earth' most aptly describe Villiera.
When pater Grier bought the farm in 1983, along with his brother Alexander, it was an unprepossessing property. But in just a few short years, the Grier third-generation (son Jeff as winemaker, nephew Simon as viticulturist and daughter Cathy as a marketer) turned it around. It became a favourite among wine-route visitors: nothing fancy, just fine wines and fun times.
Before his first Villiera vintage, Jeff Grier had spent three years at Delheim with a young cellarmaster who was fast gaining a reputation as a red wine supremo: Kevin Arnold (whom he was to join as one of the earlier Guild members). Previously, Jeff had worked in the cellars of wine and spirits producing wholesaler Distillers and done a northern hemisphere harvest on a small estate on the Rhine near Nierstein in the Rheinhessen.
Pork fillet kebabs recipe by Jeff Grier paired with Villiera Traditional Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc or Domaine Grier Grenache....
Marmite is the secret ingredient in this beef fillet recipe by Jeff Grier paired with Villiera Monro or the CWG Villiera Mother Earth red bl...