Corné Marais

Getting lost in Hermitage or its neighbour - this is what Avondale winemaker Corne Marais would do if he could fly anywhere anytime.

An avid Shiraz junkie, Corne, has been making wine and in particular Shiraz wines at Avondale since 2004, after finishing his studies at Elsenburg Agricultural College, a gap year and stints at other cellars in South Africa and overseas.

Getting lost in Hermitage or its neighbour - this is what Avondale winemaker Corne Marais would do if he could fly anywhere anytime.

An avid Shiraz junkie, Corne, has been making wine and in particular Shiraz wines at Avondale since 2004, after finishing his studies at Elsenburg Agricultural College, a gap year and stints at other cellars in South Africa and overseas.

He matriculated at Oudsthoorn High School in 1997 and completed his three year formal training with a Diploma in Cellar Technology in 2002. He swopped an arid Klein Karoo and juicy Elsenburg for the confederated wetlands of Richmond, Virginia, USA, where he ran the James River Cellars for a season as part of an exchange scholarship.

Marais believes in experimenting, as "innovation and growth is only possibly if you seek change by dabbling in alternatives - so long as you know and calculate the risks, of course". His desire for knowledge has driven him to making "traditional wines" successfully over the last three years. This include, higher fermentation temperatures, post fermentation hot soaking, and whole bunch fermentations on Shiraz, Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsault, Sauvignon blanc and Semillon.

Marais has put his heart on minimalist wines. It is a dream which is possible at Avondale, where organic and Bio-LOGIC grapes allows for the making of natural, low sulphur wines, and which express the lay of the land straight from a balanced soil.

So, if he did manage to get lost in France, where would Corne find himself again? Alain Graillot - in Crozes Hermitage - is where his journey would take him, for sure.