Peter Orpen - “Orps” and wife Jane shared an interest in wine from the early days, first joining a friendly wine club in the 80’s and starting their own one in 1990. They both had a calling to live on a farm and moved to Winery Rd in 1997 from Cape Town knowing very little except that the farm had 40 year old bush vines – Chenin and Cinsaut. Orps learnt to spray and prune and harvest. 1999 and there was too much Chenin on the market, so sample holes were dug and the old vines were replaced with Shiraz and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. The farm was called Kleinplaas–only 4.3 hectares. Knowing very little about viticulture we were lucky enough to meet Paul Wallace who became our consultant. Orps loved learning about the land and treasured his vineyard. He was up early every morning, bright yellow crocs on his feet, his dogs by his side; a picture of content.

When the first grapes were picked, friend and mentor Kevin Arnold of Waterford suggested that we make a barrel which we did, and he supervised. The grapes were picked by family and taken to Waterford to destem and ferment, then hand pressed and put into barrels, one French and one American. Orps had found his passion at last, and he was rewarded with a 4 star wine. In 2002 we built a small cellar on the farm-30 tons to make our Heron Ridge Shiraz and in 2003 we made our first home vintage, about 24 barrels; 30% new wood and 30% American.

The Winemakers

The History Behind Heron Ridge

Orps was happiest in the vineyard, especially with the help of his many friends in the industry who all shared with us the secrets of viticulture and oenology so generously. I remember once my youngest son saying to me that we were becoming socially boring as we could only talk about wine. What a pleasure. Sadly Orps died in May 2006 but his last 9 years, making wine from his cherished vineyard, were his most rewarding and his daughter Pippa seems to have inherited his passion.

View of the Vineyard