It was at the Fruit and Wine Pairing during Vrede en Lust’s recent Harvest Celebration in March that this beautiful bright winemaker’s innate passion for and astounding knowledge of winemaking struck me for the first time.

Susan was born in Cape Town and grew up in the Free State before she did us all the favour of returning to the Winelands in 2000, now living for the love of wine! After graduating in Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University and spending some time in France perfecting her craft, she joined Vrede en Lust as Winemaker in August 2006.

She now heads up the team in the cellar crafting her wines in a classic new world style, respecting the fruit from the vineyard whilst also aiming for pleasure in every sip. Susan considers depth, palate weight and the balance of fruit and tannins all as important factors to be able to make wines of different styles and for diverse palates.

So how does she know if she has a particularly good vintage?

Her answer is simple and testifies to the consistent quality that one becomes accustomed to with Vrede and Lust – to aim for wines similar in style, even when they have vintage differences.