Wine Life by Daléne Fourie | Episode Three | Berene Sauls and her Tesselaarsdal Wines: Salt of the Earth

For the third episode of Wine Life , I sat down with Berene Sauls of Tesselaarsdal wines at the tasting room at Hamilton Russell Vineyards, where she still works as the import, export, transport, packaging and logistics manager (yes that’s a mouthful), having started as the nanny to Anthony Hamilton Russell’s children in 2001, as a red-cheeked 18 year-old. In 2015 she was given the start-up money by Anthony himself, to start her own wine brand, Tesselaarsdal Wines, currently encapsulating a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made from the La Vierge Babylon vineyard in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, the wines made by Hamilton Russell winemaker, Emul Ross, who is systematically teaching her eldest son Darren, the ropes. Since 2015 she’s gone on to purchase a 16.6ha farm in the Tesselaar Hills, an area she hopes to have designated when her vines come of age, and is working on establishing a first generation farming endeavour for her two sons to take over in the future. But Berene is not as straight-laced as she sounds, and her journey has been anything but effortless. From Lot’s wife and her cousins, dried snoek, Mr. Brian Sauls (her father), and an absence of TIME, I spent most of the time laughing at her wonderfully honest answers and almighty WILL. But best YOU listen and get the story from the proverbial horse’s mouth. Subscribe to News24 for all the latest Wine News at https://www.news24.com/life/wine and sign up to receive our bi-weekly Wine Newsletter to ensure you don't miss out. And keep an eye out for our next Wine Life episode with a newly independent Abrie Beeslaar, previously of Kanonkop and now, officially of Beeslaar Wines. Follow Tesselaarsdal Wines on Instagram: @tesselaarsdalwines or @berene8584 Tesselaarsdal Wines: https://tesselaarsdalwines.co.za/ As mentioned in the podcast, you can contact Berene directly to setup a tasting via telephone: +27 73 322 9499 and here is the Creation wine she speaks of at the end of our conversation: Creation Roussanne Grenache Blanc 2022 For behind-the-scenes of Wine Life, follow our Wine Editor, Daléne Fourie, on Instagram as she makes her way around the Cape Winelands: @dalenefourie.