Stellenbosch, South Africa
Rising up on the southeastern coast of South Africa, 4 hours from the closest winery, Rüdger van Wyk didn’t intend to make wine his profession. The previous aggressive swimmer simply knew he didn’t wish to sit in a cubicle all day. It was solely after one in every of his brothers started working in a cooperative vineyard that teenaged van Wyk determined to forge his personal path within the business. “I used to be at all times intrigued by science—not that I did nicely in it, however I used to be intrigued by it,” he says, laughing.
He attended Stellenbosch College and labored a harvest in Burgundy, France, earlier than changing into an assistant winemaker at Stark-Condé, an award-winning vineyard in Stellenbosch, in 2015. “Put up-Apartheid, the world has opened up for South Africa,” he says. “Loads of winemakers might journey and had been uncovered to different individuals, different experiences, different concepts.”
Lower than a decade later, he launched his personal vineyard, New Daybreak. The lineup features a energetic, chillable purple mix made with fruit from the Western Cape, and a tart and textured Stellenbosch white wine, the OG Chenin Blanc. Having contributed to Stark-Condé’s transition to certified-organic operations, he’s dedicated to incorporating sustainability rules into New Daybreak. “It’s fairly essential to me to work with individuals who farm responsibly. And never simply accountable to the earth, but additionally accountable to their staff.”
With an formidable objective to make New Daybreak “one of many prime 50 wineries on this planet,” the daddy of two is motivated by his household and group. “I need New Daybreak to provide minority teams hope,” he says. “I need them to imagine: It doesn’t matter the place you come from. Should you work arduous and imagine and have ardour for what you wish to do, then you may obtain it.”
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