VERITAS 2023

LIVING LEGENDS 2023

12

CHRIS ROUX Chris matriculated from De Villiers Graaff High School in Villiersdorp, followed by his military training. He started his journey in the wine world at KWV where he was appointed in the legal administration department in 1967. Two years later, he moves on to Monis in Paarl and becomes a trainee winemaker under the guidance of wine legend Hans Losch. In 1970 he is appointed as winemaker at Wamakersvallei Wine Cellar (today Wellington Wines) and at the age of 28 he is appointed as the cellar manager, one of the youngest cellar managers in the industry at the time. Here he makes his mark boldly and builds out the cellar and its quality wines over the 33 years at the reins here. Following his retirement, he did not at all become idle and further expressed his knowledge and energy as winemaker of Ashanti and Mont du Toit Estates for ten years. In 1995 Chris becomes a founding member of the Pinotage Association and serves on the executive. In 2005 he receives an honorary membership certificate for his contribution to establish and develop the Association. The Paarl wine region had shortly before presented him with a scroll for 34 years’ service to promote the quality of SA wines. He was a founder and chairperson of the Wellington Wine Route in 1993 and becomes a founder and executive member of Paarl Bottling Company shortly afterwards. Chris was a regular and dedicated judge at the wine competitions SA Young Wine, Veritas and Absa Top Ten over the years. He was an Absa Top Ten Award winner four times and achieved three Double Gold Veritas awards in 2002 for the La Cave Pinotage, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. To crown it all, he clinched the trophy for the Best Cabernet Sauvignon at the London International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2002 with the La Cave Cabernet Sauvignon. JACQUES ROUX Jacques started his wine career in 1978 as a marketing trainee at Stellenbosch Farmers Winery under the management of Jürgen Burmeister, Dick Coleshaw and Richard Cleal – all three very stimulating and thought-provoking personalities that set him up to pursue his career in marketing. He was instructed to relaunch the famous Tassenberg or “Tassies” in its original livery and, with a 1938 Ford panel van that was branded with Tassenberg, it was his first success story. Many more would follow. He left SFW in 1988 to join an advertising agency, but soon realised that he had to get “back to wine” with brands like Bellingham and Culemborg Wines. Here he started to work with another wine legend and rugby hero, oom John Gainsford, export manager for Union Wine who taught him so much about people, sales, relationships and goodwill. Jacques joined the Graham Beck Wines team as Marketing Manager with Pieter Ferreira and Charles Hopkins in the early 1990s where he played a major role to market these quality wines around the world. He spent the next six to eight years introducing the Graham Beck Brut overseas – at wine shows and international trade shows and listing wines like Railroad Red and Waterside White.