THE WINE MAKING TEAM
CARL VAN WIJCK
Is the revolutionary wine maker and strategist. He has wide experience in natural wines having first experimented with the concept more than twenty years ago. He successfully produced a natural Sauvignon Blanc in the Karoo which inspired him to apply his ideas on a much larger scale. He is the master-mind and architect behind all the vine plantings and infra-structure that makes up Olivedale Vineyards today.
RIAAN LIEBENBERG
Riaan has been involved in the wine industry for more than 30 years, and every harvest reminds me why I love this path. As a family man who draws his energy from nature, I believe that winemaking is a collaboration with the earth—a process in which you listen to what the vineyards tell you.
At Olivedale, we care for the vineyards and I share the story of our wines with the world. My philosophy is simple: work with nature, respect her rhythm, and create wines that genuinely and honestly reflect the terroir.
CREATIVE CAPITAL
Something magical happens when investment and creative genius come together – when investors look beyond commercial constraints and returns and share in and commit to the aspirations of a creative virtuoso. Such investments do not fit conventional norms of financial, equity, corporate or even venture capital. They can only be called creative capital.
It’s what happened in a chance meeting in South Africa between wine strategist, Carl van Wijck and his Belgian alliance.
And one of the Belgian partners gave the following statement: “From the first moment I arrived in South Africa, I was touched by the melting pot of so many cultures, backgrounds; the extreme wonderful nature, and a country with a huge potential in so many directions.” Enthralled by van Wijck’s natural wines concept, we were able to convene and recruit the necessary means to share in what we all see as “an extraordinary Union, you can call it a marriage, between people of different origins and the wonderful Cape nature with its exceptional terroir and climate, creating an exquisite product that we like to share with real wine lovers.”