As is tradition, a handful of industry leaders were honoured at the 33rd Veritas Awards ceremony on Friday 13 October.
This award, instituted by the Veritas Awards in 2009, serves as recognition for exemplary service to the industry over the years – acknowledging their commitment and paying homage to them for remarkable achievements.
Thereby, six luminaries received the 2023 Legends Scroll of Honour for their dedication to and enthusiasm and passion for the domestic wine and brandy industries.
Gary Baumgarten was born in Cape Town and attended Paul Roos Gymnasium before studying at Stellenbosch University (SU), where he obtained his BSc in Agriculture (Oenology and Viticulture) in 1979.
Baumgarten spent the next 16 years at Graham Beck Wines as general manager. Graham Beck Wines comprised two cellars, four farms, two cellarmasters and one single-minded and highly aspirational brand name.
In 2011 he was appointed as managing director of Anthonij Rupert Wines with its four cellars, seven farms and six brands, where he played a major role in assisting the company to achieve success locally and internationally. He retired last year and decided to keep on sharing his knowledge and experience in the industry by starting a consulting business on best practice in the vineyard and in winemaking procedures.
He was chairperson of Robertson Wine Valley, chairperson of Cape Negociants, executive committee member of Salba and a member of the Wine and Spirits Board.
Baumgarten has judged on the SA Young Wine Show and Veritas panels for many years, as well as at overseas shows. He is also a member of the South African Viticultural and Oenology Society and the South African Chemical Institute.
Although semi-retired, he is still very active with wine tastings, outdoor activities and, obviously, his beloved golf.
Gert Boerssen was born in Caledon and matriculated in 1968. Following a year in military service, he studied SU and obtained a BSc agricultural degree in viticulture and winemaking in 1973.
His first post was as researcher at the Nietvoorbij Research Institute outside Stellenbosch, before joining Boland Cellar in Paarl as winemaker in 1977. Three years later joined Nuwehoop Cellar in Rawsonville as cellar manager.
Boerssen accepted service as cellarmaster of Wellington Wine Cellar in 1982, where he played a pivotal role in developing the cellar’s quality wines over the next 30 years. He made a considerable contribution in 2011, when he became head winemaker with the merging of Wellington Wynboere and Wamakersvallei Cellar, and soon afterwards also Bovlei Cellar. He was instrumental in getting the cellar members together to collaborate, and so also the various staff members at the cellar.
Boerssen retired to his farm in Napier in 2014, after serving as production manager of Wellington Wines for some years.
Johan Ehlers was born and raised in the Sasolburg area of the Free State area and, after his military service, studied BSc Agric at SU.
After 12 years at the former Rural Foundation, he was appointed as marketing manager at the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society in 1996. The marketing name for the society, Agri-Expo, was established in the same year.
Ehlers serves Agri-Expo for 26 years until the end of last year. During this period, he acts as CEO and succeeds in establishing the Agri-Expo marketing brand on national and international platforms.
He played a leading role in establishing the South African Cheese Festival, which among others, received the award as Best Exhibition in Africa six times. He also established the partnership between Veritas-awarded wines and the festival.
Under his banner the Qualité Mark of quality is built out to an established brand for South African Dairy products and these quality products are introduced to the public together with Veritas wines at the well-known Veritas public tastings annually.
In the late 1990s, Ehlers, on behalf of the Agri-Expo Board, facilitated the first financial awards to the then cultivar work groups, established by the SANWSA to assist them with administrative costs and the presentation of technical seminars. This was the preamble to the established cultivar associations.
Together with the Agri-Expo Board, he entrusted the presentation and judging of the SA Young Wine Show to the SANWSA and contributed to the fact that the Society is still in a valuable partnership with the SANWSA and the industry as the Young Wines Show’s owner after so many years.
Ehlers has for 21 years, from 2001, acted as board member for the SA National Wine Show Association, including three years on the executive committee.
Chris Roux matriculated from De Villiers Graaff High School in Villiersdorp, followed by his military training.
He started his journey in the wine world at KWV, where he was appointed in the legal administration department in 1967. Two years later, he moved to Monis in Paarl and became a trainee winemaker under the guidance of wine legend Hans Losch.
In 1970, he was appointed as winemaker at Wamakersvallei Wine Cellar (today Wellington Wines) and at age 28, he became one of the youngest cellar managers in the industry at the time. Here he boldly made his mark by building out the cellar and its quality wines over 33 years.
In 1995, Roux became a founding member of the Pinotage Association and served on the executive. In 2005 he received an honorary membership certificate for his contribution to establish and develop the association. Shortly before, the Paarl wine region had presented him with a scroll for 34 years’ service to promote the quality of SA wines.
Roux was a regular and dedicated judge of the SA Young Wine, Veritas and Absa Top Ten competitions over the years.
He was an Absa Top Ten Award winner four times and achieved three Double Gold Veritas awards in 2002 for the La Cave Pinotage, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. To crown it all, he clinched the trophy for the Best Cabernet Sauvignon at the London International Wine & Spirit Competition with the La Cave Cabernet Sauvignon in 2002.
Jacques Roux started his wine career as a marketing trainee at Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW) in 1978, under the management of Jürgen Burmeister, Dick Coleshaw and Richard Cleal – all three very stimulating and thought-provoking personalities that set him up to pursue his career in marketing.
He was instructed to relaunch the famous Tassenberg or “Tassies” in its original livery and, with a 1938 Ford panel van that was branded with Tassenberg, it was his first success story. Many more would follow?.?.?.
He left SFW to join an advertising agency in 1988, but soon realised he had to get “back to wine” with brands like Bellingham and Culemborg Wines. Here Roux started to work with another wine legend and rugby hero, oom John Gainsford, export manager for Union Wine who taught him so much about people, sales, relationships and goodwill.
He joined the Graham Beck Wines team as marketing manager with Pieter Ferreira and Charles Hopkins in the early 1990s, where he played a major role to market quality wines around the world. He spent the next six to eight years introducing the Graham Beck Brut at global wine shows and international trade shows, and listing wines like Railroad Red and Waterside White.
When DGB acquired Boschendal in 2005, Roux joined Tim Hutchinson and team as the wine marketing director for DGB. He was instrumental in reviving the Boschendal brand to its former glory.
He also played a role in the broader wine environment. He was chairperson of the Franschhoek Vignerons and instrumental in merging the hospitality side with the winemakers to form a very strong tourism body.
Roux served on the board of WOSA for a four-year term in the early 2000. He was also on the panel that wrote the specifications for the Cape Blend category of the Pinotage Association and the judging convenor for a number of Cape Blend competitions. He also judged at Veritas and other competitions.
He retired from DGB in 2021, after 43 fantastic years in the South African wine industry.
Johan Wiese is born and bred from Vredendal in the Olifants River district. After matric, he moved to studies at SU and obtained a BSc degree in viticulture and winemaking in 1976.
His first post was at Nietvoorbij Research Institute as skilled worker in weed killer experimentation and pruning. Two years later he was appointed at KWV in viticultural extension service, initially serving Paarl, Swartland and Olifants River.
In 1989, Wiese and another four producers establish the Voor Groenberg-Nursery in Wellington to supply the wine, table and raisin grape industries countrywide, as well as numerous clients in foreign countries. In this period, he also consults for several wine farms in South Africa and overseas.
Moreover, he also conveys his knowledge and experience over a broader front at various organisations in viticulture and vineyard plant material, as well as the spreading of viticultural knowledge to the wider industry and in research.
