Graham Beck

Franschhoek,  South Africa

Graham Beck Wines is now entering its third generation as a family winery. It was established in 1983 when entrepreneur Graham Beck purchased Madeba farm outside the Western Cape town of Robertson with a fervent ambition to establish a world-class winery in this region. The success of the Robertson winery has been extended to the second Graham Beck cellar in Franschhoek, one of the oldest wine-making regions in South Africa.
The success of Graham Beck Wines can be attributed to passion, commitment, skill and access to the finest quality grapes. But most of all it can be attributed to the vision of one man – Graham Beck.
Graham Beck was born in Cape Town and his success as an entrepreneur began whilst studying commerce at the University of Cape Town. During this time he established a successful home renovation business called Kangra, ventured into the coal mining business, and pioneered the centralised transportation and export of coal through Richards Bay on the north coast of Kwazulu-Natal.
His business interests are global and he and his wife divide their time between homes in South Africa, Britain and America while remaining committed to their African roots and continuing to invest time, energy and funds in the future success and growth of South Africa.

Vineyards
Our vineyards are located on four diverse farms in the Western Cape province of South Africa, enabling the Robertson and Franschhoek Cellars to have access to grape varietals grown in the climatic conditions and soils to which they are best suited. Marco Ventrella in conjunction with consulting Viticulturist, Leon Dippenaar, overseer the 4 farms. However, each farm is individually tended for by the respective Vineyard Manager; Franschhoek is under the care of Lochner Bester (97ha); Firgrove (Skoongesig 36ha and Vredenhof 64ha) fall under Dérek Hamman and Pieter Fouché looks after Madeba in Robertson (189ha).
The two farms in the Firgrove area in Stellenbosch’s Helderberg district, provide most of the premium red varietals to the Graham Beck range. The Stellenbosch region is universally recognised as South Africa’s premier wine region due to its excellent terroir suited to the growing of a variety of premium red cultivars.
An extensive renewal programme has resulted in premier red and white varietals on all our farms. Great care has been taken to match the obliging micro-climates and rich variety of soils with the most suitable varietal. This ensures our Cellarmasters have access to optimum quality fruit from which to make their specific wines.

After the success of the Graham Beck Robertson Cellar, Graham Beck consolidated his wine interests by bringing the Graham Beck Franschhoek Cellar into the fold. This means that today our wines are made in state-of-the art cellars in Robertson and in Franschhoek, while fruit is sourced from Graham Beck’s four farms, as well as a few top grape growers in the Western Cape.
Both the Robertson and Franschhoek cellars are unique in design, portraying a combination of aesthetic harmony and technical excellence, with infinite attention to detail. Besides the most modern equipment available in winemaking technology, both the Robertson and Franschhoek facilities have their own bottling plants, ensuring the team controls wine production from vineyard right through to the bottled product.
The cellars have a joint capacity of 6 000 tons and fall under the watchful eye of experienced general manager Gary Baumgarten. He takes great care to nurture and develop the talent of the winemaking teams, as well as to co-ordinate the general commitment to the Graham Beck brand. Méthode Cap Classique specialist Pieter Ferreira is the cellarmaster at the Robertson Cellar, while Charles Hopkins, a legend in the South African red wine industry, hold the reins at the Franschhoek Cellar.

Graham Beck Robertson: Pieter Ferreira
Because of his passion for sparkling wine, and his pioneering role in South Africa’s Méthode Cap Classique industry, it is said that Pieter Ferreira has bubbles in his blood. A versatile winemaker, Pieter’s Graham Beck The Ridge Syrah also won the trophy for best shiraz in the world at the 2003 International Wine Challenge in London.
Pieter was appointed cellarmaster at Graham Beck Wines in 1990. He learnt his trade under Achim von Arnim, another Cap Classique Pioneer, and has experienced various vintages working in Champagne, France at Mumm in 1987 and Moët&Chandon in 1989.
Graham Beck Franschhoek: Charles Hopkins
Charles Hopkins is as physically imposing, up-front and adventurous as the “big reds” he makes, sometimes singing a long to his favourite Kris Kristofferson CD. He is rated one of South Africa’s top young cellarmasters, with a long list of successes behind his name. His recent successes are: Graham Beck The Old Road Pinotage which was one of the ABSA Top 10 Trophy winners in 2003, and Graham Beck Sauvignon Blanc 2003 won a double gold medal at the 2003 Veritas Awards.
During his nine year run at Bellingham, Charles worked at Dry Creek in California’s Sonoma Valley, as well as spending a great deal of time at Château Fonplegade in St Emilion. He also visited New Zealand to learn more about reductive winemaking techniques.

See Graham Beck wines we sell

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