Grapes love our experience

Surroundings of Paarl, South Africa, 30 November 2018

The warm, cosy sun of South Africa, a gentle breeze from the hills and then: the sweet grapes straight from the field – our quality expert Eusebio is here visiting the farm Hoekstra in Paarl North. Together with the team around the renowned grape producer Aat Hoekstra, we are currently developing a program for SanLucar table grapes.

Aat Hoekstra is a true pioneer in grape production. He and his family have established many different and highly successful grape varieties in South Africa in recent decades. Together with a research institute in Israel, he is constantly developing new, even tastier varieties. Aat Hoekstra: “I love it when our ideas bear fruit in the truest sense of the word and I can talk shop with the men in the field”. We still have to wait a moment for the new grapes – the harvest starts at the end of January.

But it looks like it will be a good year in the Western Cape this year, because there was no drought. The only worry the team has at the moment is the sudden rain. “But we’ve got that under control, after all we’ve been doing it here for some time now,” laughs Aat Hoekstra.