It was on a skiing trip in Austria in 1983 that Jeremy Walker bumped into a man who would bring him back to winemaking. 'Seymour Pritchard and I were on the same skiing course. I discovered he owned a small farm in Devon Valley, down the road from where I'd been at Bertram's. He'd planted cabernet sauvignon and was selling the grapes to a large winery.
We became friends and two years later, in the early hours after a festive Christmas Eve party, I suggested we make wine from his grapes!' Jeremy's 1980 MBA thesis examined the financial viability of a model small vineyard and winery in Stellenbosch. The findings hadn't been encouraging, echoing an old maxim in the industry: to make a small fortune from wine farming, start with a large one!
It certainly didn't put Pritchard off. Jeremy helped him establish Clos Malverne as a top red producer. Then, having handled the first six vintages (1986 to 1991) at what was then Stellenbosch's smallest winery, Jeremy decided - and was encouraged by winemaker friend Neil Ellis, then on the neighbouring farm Louisvale - to go out on his own.
He was able to use his parents' place as a base, with its various old farm buildings and, of course, that squash court his dad had built and was now willing to 'donate to the cause'. Grangehurst was a shoo-in for his label, having strong family connotations and reflecting a sense of place.
Eddie and Betty Walker, who had emigrated from England in 1952, had named Grangehurst after their respective childhood homes ('The Grange' in Birmingham and the London street 'Hurst Close'). Plus grange' means 'a country house with farm buildings: and 'burst' means 'on a hill'.
While at Clos Malverne, Jeremy had been sourcing some good pinotage fruit from a farm across the valley 'for an easy-drinking, entry-level wine'. Experiments in small French oak barrels in 1989 produced something exceptional. That’s where his love affair with pinotage began.
Not long after, Jeremy Walker re-connected with one of his business school classmates, another Stellenbosch University winemaking graduate with whom he'd worked at BP. Unlike Jeremy, Dave Hidden had remained in the corporate world but was on the Lookout for a vineyard. The Devon Valley farm with the pinotage came up for sale. 'The deal was that, if he liked it and bought it, he would guarantee me a selection of the grapes for myself.' Thus he became one of the early Cape négociant winemakers, following a path first trodden by Ellis in the 1980s.
In their first decade, Grangehurst wines and the Hidden Valley Pinotage he was making with Hidden were widely acclaimed, locally (SA Champion Young Wine and three WINE magazine five-star ratings) and abroad (scores of over 90/100 in the USA's Wine Spectator). In 1996 he was invited to join the Guild, serving on the committee for nine years as treasurer from 1997.
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....