The budget-built winery - a single-storey steel structure with cladding - was transformed into a Cape winelands gem by inspired Kevin's extensive research and wife Heather's creative flair. ‘We worked our butts off.’
Kevin was able to influence architect Alex Walker and structural engineer Johan Biesenbach to create a building that was practical for winemaking, aesthetically pleasing and sensitive to its surrounds, cost-effective and, even more importantly, homely for visitors.
Built in the middle of a citrus orchard, it was designed around a central courtyard, using natural stone from the vineyards and poplar tree timber that had been grown on the farm. Clay roof tiles matched the colors of the Table Mountain sandstone of the surrounding mountains.
Landscaping by the late Ian Ford was directed by Heather, with her renowned creative flair and attention to detail (also to find expression in the tasting area). 'It was a special time in our lives,' reminisces Kevin. Waterford has won the Great Wine Capitals of the World award for best cellar-door experience several times. ‘We sell a lifestyle here.’ He quotes Steve Jobs often: 'the brand is bigger than the individual', 'less is more', 'mediocrity inspires neither great love nor hate'. For Kevin personally, though, it runs deeper than aesthetics and brand building.
'To be creative - and making wine is that - I think you need to have a sense of where you are. As a winemaker I am inspired, every day, by keeping in touch with nature, with the environment, even when I’m not in the vineyard: seeing the mountain through a window, listening to the wind in the trees, hearing the water splashing in the fountain.'
Watch the movie A Walk in the Clouds. That's what we're doing here: sharing the soul, the peace, the passion, the drama of life on a wine farm.'
The Arnolds' home, tucked away among indigenous forest behind the winery, remains a private, family space, with Sunday lunches a regular calendar date with grown sons Rob and Lloyd ('a great cook'), daughter adine, and partners and friends. It's when Kevin gets into the kitchen; as he does when the family holidays in Plettenberg Bay, often with close friends Nick and Gaye Davies. [Davies is co-founder of Wetherly's furniture design store, now making his own Morena Cap Classiques at Franschhoek Pass Winery.]
His fascination with flavour in wine extends to food and he enjoys experimenting with new dishes. A recent marketing trip to Mumbai, India, unlocked a love for authentic Asian food and, in particular, a. taste for ginger, 'which I'd always hated and now I tend to overdo!'
The man's thirst for the new, despite being no techno junkie or gadget freak, has him utterly enamoured with the latest apps for his Apple iPad. It's temporarily distracting him from bird-watching from his favourite outdoor terrace chair and his nearby table of experimental herbs from imported Italian seed. Jobs would have approved.
Black mussels with ginger, garlic and chilli recipe with Waterford Sauvignon Blanc by Kevin Arnold....
Prawn bisque recipe with Waterford Sauvignon Blanc by Kevin Arnold. ...