“I grew up on a farm and my brother and I used to distill anything we could find,” Richard Duckitt tells me, when I ask if he always wanted to make wine. In fact, he and his brother built their very own distillery on their farm in Darling while they were still in primary school.

“Mostly we made mampoer, depending on what fruit we could find. We tried a little bit of brandy at one point but we couldn’t get many grapes.They were a bit expensive,” he admits, chuckling. Today, as the wine-maker for Franschhoek Cellar, Richard has rather more access to grapes.

After graduating from high school, Richard headed off to Elsenberg to study viticulture. Then he journeyed to Stag’s Leap in the Napa Valley, California. “We were with a lot of international students, all living together. There were winemakers and people in the wine industry from all over the world: Eastern Europe, Uruguay, Chile… I’m still in touch with a lot of them.”

So how does our local winemaking measure up to that of Napa? “I don’t think we’ve got anything to be ashamed of!” says Richard. After returning from the States and gaining his qualification in cellar technology, Richard joined Franschhoek Cellar as winemaker. He’s responsible for producing the Franschhoek Cellar range, which at present includes a chardonnay, chenin, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and shiraz, along with a few other premium wines which are in the works.

His shiraz was recently named one of the top ten in the world in the Syrah du Monde, an international competition judged by a panel of wine experts in accordance with the EU International Organisation of Wines and Vines standards. Meanwhile, Our Town Hall Chardonnay also won gold this year at the Monde Selection International Wine Competition.

“We get about 60 to 70% of our grapes from the Franschhoek valley,” he explains. A small percentage of the grapes come from Agter Paarl, Paardeberg and Stellenbosch. Richard tells me the Franschhoek region produces wines that are lighter, elegant and very delicate, but the small percentage of grapes brought in from elsewhere helps to add a richness and juiciness to the wine.

“We prepare and bottle the whites after about three months. We do a lot of batonnaging in this time, which adds to the mouth feel. We try to keep the whites lively, young and fresh, which is why we bottle soon after the harvest. The reds are aged for nine to 12 months in oak and are only bottled 12 months from vintage. The Semillon is barrel-fermented and aged for nine months in barrel before bottling.”

I’m interested to hear if, at the end of a day’s winemaking, Richard favours a particular style of wine. “I enjoy all kinds of wine, but what I drink depends on the occasion and my mood. Sometimes I have a white wine phase, but then after a few months I go back to red. I honestly can’t say I have a preference.”

My last question is a tough one. I ask what he would choose for his last glass of wine ever. After joking that it’s an unfair question, Richard reveals it would probably be one of the famous Bordeaux First Growths like Chateau Latour or Chateau Margaux. “I have been dreaming of tasting these wines for ages, but they are just so expensive!”

By Katharine Jacobs

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