Spatz Sperling honoured for his years of wine initiatives

(L-R) Son Victor Sperling, wife Vera, dauther-in-law Ronel, Spatz Sperling, son-in-law Erhardt Thiel and daughter Nora Sperling Thiel.

One such pioneering marketing tool devised by Sperling, in collaboration with the late Frans Malan of Simonsig and the late Neil Joubert of Spier, was the country's very first wine route system to entice visitors to the wine farms in the Stellenbosch region.

The Stellenbosch Wine Route was founded officially in 1971 and this groundbreaking initiative has changed the face of wine tourism in South Africa. Spawning a host of similar regional wine routes of which there are 18 today, the Stellenbosch Wine Routes remain the biggest and most visited of them all.

The business of selling and marketing the estate's wines also occupied Sperling during the 1970s. It was one such exercise, in the form of a by-invitation-only 'wine auction' in the cellar in 1974 to raise money for Stellenbosch Rotary of which Sperling was president, that provided the impetus for the inaugural Nederburg Wine Auction in 1975, still one of Cape wine's premier local and international sales and marketing events.

In addition, Sperling recognised the natural symbiosis between wine and food and its role in wine appreciation and in 1972 introduced 'cheese boards' for wine lovers visiting the estate over the lunch hour. These later expanded into the more substantial 'Vintner's Platter', in turn becoming Delheim's Garden Restaurant. The concept was quickly embraced throughout the winelands, with few Cape wineries today not offering a platter, picnic or fully-fledged restaurant, many of which are among the country's finest dining establishments.

Other significant contributions by Sperling over the years include the country's first pinotage rosé and the Cape Winemakers Guild, co-initiated by his then winemaker Kevin Arnold (now co-owner and winemaker of Waterford Estate), in 1982.

"Africa has been very good to me. I arrived in South Africa in April 1951 as a 20-year-old World War II refugee with basically nothing, but the wine industry took me under its wing and cared for me over the years," shares Sperling.

Former winners of the 1659 Medal of Honour include Nelson Mandela, former KWV chairpersons André du Toit and Ritzema de la Bat and esteemed winemakers Günter Brözel, N.C. Krone and Sydney Back.