About
Pieter de Waal, owner and winemaker of Hermit on the Hill Wines, is described by the Platter Guide as “stubborn as an ox and ornery as an ostrich – and he only makes wine when he has the time and inspiration.”
After dabbling in the dark arts of economics and attaining an MBA at the University of Stellenbosch, he started pursuing his career in wine. It all started with running a wine shop, Vinotage, in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, after which he had the opportunity to assist Mark Savage MW in his wine import, export and distribution business in the United Kingdom. At the same time he completed the Advanced Certificate at the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) in London. After this he returned to South Africa to head up Paarl Vintners, followed by a stint of marketing the Durbanville Wine Valley.
He made his first wine from grapes sourced from Bloemendal in Durbanville (one 30 litre beer keg of Merlot that never completed malolactic fermentation). Hermit on the Hill Wines were launched with a maiden vintage 2000 Syrah made in conjunction with Clive Kerr of Coleraine Wines and till today this partnership exists and has grown to include Syrah, Pinot Noir, Grenache as well as a red blend of Syrah and Cinsaut (The Red Knight) and two white blends; Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon / Muscat Blanc (The White Knight) and Sauvignon Blanc / Viognier (The Sauvignier).
“The Rhône is in my blood” states De Waal, with one of his ancestors credited with having planted the first Syrah vines at the Cape. Over the past ten years his total production has grown from 2 400 bottles per year to approximately 12 000 bottles.
He regularly works the harvest with university buddy, Ciaran Rooney, at Domaine des Anges in the South of France. He has acted as the secretary of the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group (SBIG) for the last few years as he believes that this is the grape variety showing the most promise to become South Africa’s signature white grape variety.
He is a registered tourist guide for the Western Cape specialising in wine tourism.
In his free time he takes his Airedale terrier, Woester, on long and uncomforable trips in a 1959 Land Rover while playing the music of Gogol Bordello as loudly as possible.