RAKA - Biography Shiraz 2003

Veritas Awards

Michelangelo International Wine Awards

January 1, 2004

Juliet Cullinan Connoisseur's Award

Gold Medal

Veritas Awards

January 1, 2006

John Platter

Name: Joseph Dreyer, Current Winemaker

This is what he had to say…

Tell us about your early days in the vineyards, your education and how you started your career.

I started the process in 2002, when I was only in grade 10. I helped out in our fields and cellar after school, working and learning about the art with the winemaker. From then on I was hooked and manage to complete my studies in 2006 where I graduated from Elsinburg, the college of Agriculture situated outside Stellenbosch.


Describe your philosophy/approach to making wines.

Keep the process as natural as possible. Don’t over oak the vines and
Give as few filtrations as possible. Most of our reds don’t endure a pre-filter.

What is or would be your ideal wine to make?

Shiraz!

Favorite Cultivar to play with?

We have 14 different cultivars on the farm and are currently adding a bit of Viognier to our fields.  I think that I would really enjoy to experiment with Grenache.

RAKA

Kleine River, Western Cape

Raka Winery is situated south east of Hermanus in the Akkedisberg area on the east coast of the Western Cape. It lies 17 kilometers from the quaint little town of Stanford in a glen where the Klein river flows through.  The Klein river Mountains which surround the winery is the southern most mountain range in Africa and its slopes provide a variety of aspects and soil types.

Raka’s proximity to the sea has the cool breezes from Walker bay in the afternoon while the South Easterly wind blowing in from the Cape Agulhas on the Indian Ocean reduces the summer heat.  This newly established wine area is cooler than the traditional wine growing areas of the Cape.

Raka- a family owned and operating winery, was bought in 1982 and at first was planted with citrus only to have its first 10 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz varietals planted 17 years later.  Since then a few hectares were added every year, and the 68 hectares on the farm at present, includes plantings of Pinotage, Sangiovese, Viognier, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot and also larger plantings of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc, making the farm self-sufficient as far as varieties needed for the different blends are concerned.

Piet Dreyer, the owner of Raka is an established commercial fisherman and is well known amongst the squid fisherman as the “kaalvoet (barefoot) skipper” aboard his freezer- vessel named RAKA. Piet took his name as his brand when he ventured, with equal passion into winemaking- hence the slogan: born of the sea, guided by the stars and blessed by the earth.