It's the streak of stubborn independence underlying Jeremy Walker's bonhomie that saw him follow a somewhat unorthodox career path, at one stage diverting him from winemaking. But he always had one goal in mind: 'I wanted my own winery one day.'
He grew up in Camps Bay and matriculated at St George's Grammar in Mowbray when it was still a boys-only private school. A conscription stint in the South African Navy followed.
The Camps Bay surfer loved the sea. 'I was introduced to surfing in 1964 by a school friend whose dad was one of the first surfers in South Africa. We surfed a lot at Muizenberg in those days, as well as my "home break" at Glen Beach.'
He's a regular at the annual Vintners Surf Classic for wine-industry people and their families, contributing wine to the magnums of 'Big Red' blended from participants' contributions and presented to contestants.
His parents' move from Camps Bay to Stellenbosch when they bought the Helderberg smallholding in 1973 was 'very convenient' for Jeremy. Earlier that year he had been introduced, by his dad, to Alan Bell, then chairman of Gilbeys Distillers & Vintners.
After a visit to the Bells' home at Kleine Zalze and 'a day filled with intrigue and romance of wine', it was off to Stellenbosch University for a B.Sc. in viticulture and oenology.
Jeremy went to work at Bertrams (owned by Gilbeys) in Devon Valley, spending two years under the redoubtable Dr. Arnold Schickerling, who put Bertram, red wines on the map in the 1970s.
Ready to move on after two years to travel and work in Europe, he missed out on the opportunity to be groomed as the future technical manager. 'But I wanted to make wine, my own wine, not go into production management.'
During his travels, he worked at various wineries in Rheinhessen, Mosel, Beaujolais, and Bordeaux. On his return he enrolled for a full-time MBA at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business, then joined the corporate world with BP for a few years - 'I was chairman of the BP Wine Tasters' Circle!' - and thereafter worked as a property broker until 1987.
'It really was all an attempt to make enough money to buy my own wine farm. All that time I still tried to keep involved in the wine industry as much as I could, through serving on various tasting panels like the Wine of the Month Club and with the late, great Simon Rappaport for his Argus wine column.'
Thai beef salad with lemony mint sauce recipe by Jeremy Walker paired with Grangehurst Nikela wine....
Tomato, olive and onion tarte tatin recipe by Jeremy Walker paired with Grangehurst Cape Rose Blend wine....