“For me, the most exciting thing is walking into a restaurant, and there are four people huddled around one of your bottles. That is…I mean, it’s priceless!”
Ever since he made his first bottle of Shiraz at Elsenburg, Niels dreamt of having his own wine farm and label. In 1999, 16 years later, he established Luddite Wines, a small family-run wine farm situated on the slopes of the Houw Hoek mountains, just outside Bot River.
Assisted by his wife, Penny, who takes care of the vineyards, Niels focuses on his favourite variety, Shiraz. The Shiraz is joined by a Luddite Chenin Blanc and a red and a white blend under the new label, Saboteur – the red being Shiraz driven and the white being Chenin Blanc driven. Niels’ personal top achievement thus far has been “selling Shiraz to the Australians”!