For all his plain tastes, apparent nonchalance, and quiet insistence on being viewed as 'just a plain ou', Coenie Snyman is in fact a highly qualified, vastly experienced, widely travelled wine man who, even in his career, has always preferred to fly under the radar.
A true blue 'Stellenbosser', he's the son of a church minister: 'Not just Dutch Reformed but NG Sendingkerk!' he offers as a teasing comment on becoming immersed in the world of wine from an upbringing in a religious environment.
Coenie Snyman was schooled at venerable local boys' institution Paul Roos Gymnasium and graduated from the University of Stellenbosch with a B.Sc. in viticulture and oenology and honours in oenology.
Coenie Snyman did a practical cellar stint under Martin Meinert at Vergelegen and his first harvest with Chris Keet at Cordoba before joining The Bergkelder in 1995, specialising in red winemaking and maturation.
Intent on broadening his winemaking experience, he took unpaid leave to 'train' in California at renowned winery Chalk Hill in Sonoma County.
'The Californians have great technology, particularly when it comes to making chardonnay.'
A few years later, he experienced 'the other side of winemaking, the real, traditional, red wine culture of France' where he worked a harvest in the classic Bordeaux red wine appellation of St Estèphe.
By 2003 he had taken over as head of The Bergkelder's new-look team of talented young white and red winemakers, following the merger of Distillers and Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery to form the massive wine and spirits producer and wholesaler Distell.
'During my 10 years with The Bergkelder, I got to travel extensively to explore what was happening in the industries of other wine countries.
Trips to Europe, the USA and Australia also included visiting most of the top wine institutions: Montpellier, Davis, Adelaide.'
'Because we always operated as a team, with individual winemakers concentrating on either white or red or sparkling wine within a brand, the achievement was more about the wines than the person who made them.
Few people realise that The Bergkelder's brands have consistently been among the top wines in the country.'
Coenie has always been quite happy to let his wines do the talking.
Even now, at one of South Africa's most venerable red wine estates: 'I leave the marketing and the public appearances to Jean; he's extremely good at it.'
Crème brûlée with compressed chocolate cake recipe by Coenie Snyman paired with Rust en Vrede Shiraz wine....
Sirloin steak and Béarnaise sauce recipe by Coenie Snyman paired with Rust en Vrede Estate wine....