Dynamic,
energised, innovative and hands on’ are just
a few words to describe the new "wine grower",
Neil Hawkins, at Hoopenburg. Preferring the title
"wine grower" as opposed to "wine
maker", this emphasises his philosophy that
total vineyard control is of utmost importance in
creating a great wine and new image at Hoopenburg.
Rigorous fruit selection, small batch fermentation in
newly acquired hand worked open fermentors, soft whole
bunch pressing of grapes are just a few of the techniques
Neil is using to maximise the quality of Hoopenburg’s
vineyards in order to create a product of superior concentration
and quality.
After graduating at the University of Stellenbosch in
2001 and having heard that you cannot make a great wine
if you don’t know what one tastes like – Neil
chose France as his principle country to make his apprentices
to develop his palate. After his three vintages in France(South
Rhone, Bordeaux, Alsace), one summer of vineyard work
in North Rhone and one vintage down under in New Zealand(Cloudy
Bay), one can only expect of great wines to come from
Hoopenburg in the not to distant future.
Now doing his third vintage at Hoopenburg, some of the
hard work is about to be on display to the public with
the release of his new "INTEGER" range of wines.
