A family from Belgium held a launch on 24 February to reveal their maiden vintages produced at their new wine farm in the Upper-Hemel-and-Aarde-valley where they will be producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
C\u00e9line Haspeslagh and her husband Frederik Herten recently launched Hasher Family Estate aptly named after the first three syllables from their surnames hence the Hasher. \u201cThe name shows the coming together of two families and building something for the future,\u201d says Frederik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event attracted a number of local and international wine enthusiasts, who were treated to tastings of the Fat Lady (the very last vintage ever produced from a block of 24-year-old sauvignon blanc vines), the Marimist (a wooded chardonnay that celebrates the Atlantic Ocean mist that cools down the valley) and the Ernest (an elegant pinot noir named after Frederik and C\u00e9line\u2019s firstborn son).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frederick has been coming to Hermanus for the past 25 years and he never thought for once that he will end up in the valley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Belgium I was a commercial lawyer. Celine was a HR professional, and she comes from a family that has a agricultural business. Through the years I developed a passion for wine, but it was always on the side and I never intended to do something professional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then he became a sommelier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI started doing wine distribution in Belgium but then Covid-19 hit and the world stopped. We are very busy and we have demanding jobs with three children. So we finally got some time to contemplate,\u201d says Frederik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This got the family thinking and they started looking at agricultural opportunities in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe decided life is short and we should pursue our dreams,\u201d says C\u00e9line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frederik jokes and says when he is in a retirement home one day then he wants to be the guy that is sitting and telling stories of his life and not the guy who is left listening to the stories of others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough some contacts we got in touch with some acquisition opportunities in Stellenbosch and that is when I called JC Martin from Creation Wines and I asked JC to come and visit the wine farm in Stellies with me. He said yes, but he asked why Stellenbosch? I said I looked at Hemel-and-Aarde but nothing there met our parameters. JC then said that I should come with him and knock on some doors in the Hemel-and-Aarde Valley.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As it turned out the previous owners of Sumaridge Wine Estate were thinking of passing on the wine estate but were not sure, and they said that if the right person with the right values turns up, they might be interested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter three months of chatting they were ready to sell. Before we knew it, we had signed a sale agreement for the farm and we moved in last year August and in September the transfer took place. And as we speak, we are now in charge of this wine estate for six months,\u201d says Frederik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first changes the couple implemented at Hasher Family Estate was to appoint (for the first time ever) a farm manager and a sales and marketing manager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe also decided to rebrand to Hasher Family Estate with a newly designed logo. We will be focusing on chardonnay and pinot noir because we want to listen to what the terroir is telling us,\u201d says Frederik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terroir is a French word and when someone says that this wine shows terroir, they actually mean that this wine tastes the way a wine, grown in a specific region, should taste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat distinguishes the Upper Hemel-and-Aarde from the rest of the Hemel-and-Aarde Valley is we have decomposed granite that gives the wine a lot of fruitiness. And if you do a blind tasting in Hemel-and-Aarde-valley, you will be able to pick up that this specific wine is from Upper Hemel-and-Aarde,\u201d says Frederik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hasher Family Estate is also changing from cellar-driven wines to terroir-driven wines. \u201cWe treat our vineyards like babies. We incorporate an intense programme of rejuvenation. This had to be done because these vineyards needed love again.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They will also be implementing organic farming methods and they will step away from chemical fertilisation. \u201cWe live on a farm, and we see our kids running through our vineyards. That is why we chose to go the organic route. We are not looking for an organic label for Hasher Family Estate, we are doing it for the quality of the wine,\u201d says C\u00e9line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are also planning on redesigning the cellar to go fully on gravity feed. \u201cIn our cellars we want to do as little pumping as possible. We try to avoid methods that are too brutal in the cellar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Frederik they are planning to allocate 50 hectares of the farm to wildlife and nature preservation. The farm will also be part of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) conservation champions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are also planning to protect and nurture the 22 hectares of fynbos we have on the farm,\u201d explains Frederik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have been invited to a lot of braais and have been accepted by everyone in the community. Every single farmer has come to introduce themselves to us. According to us Hermanus is an extremely community-based town, where everyone cares for each other,\u201d concludes C\u00e9line. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A family from Belgium held a launch on 24 February to reveal their maiden vintages produced at their new wine farm in the Upper-Hemel-and-Aarde-valley where they will be producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay 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