Johst Weber always had the goal that, by the time he was forty, he would start his own adventure, something he could be truly passionate about. As a second-generation mining engineer in the Ruhr area, he was responsible for facility management at the ThyssenKrupp group.
After ThyssenKrupp, he founded an energy contracting business with cost-effective energy solutions and is active in Germany and the USA. With his passion for wine, acquiring a winery was an obvious choice.
Farms in the established areas were too expensive, and then he heard about a farm for sale outside of Stanford - not a well-known wine-growing region, although the estates in the nearby Hemel-en-Aarde Valley were already highly regarded.
When he visited the farm, he found it was inhabited by a few cows and goats and a lonely old man. The rest was wilderness, but there was a productive spring and a limestone ridge running through the property, which made it ideal for vines. So, in 1994, he bought Springfontein with a group of friends and retained the majority share. The first vines were planted in 1998, while the first vintage was in 2005. Only a small part of the more than 500 ha of land is used for viticulture. The vineyards consist of 80% red grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Shiraz, Pinotage, and Merlot, as well as 20% white grape varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Semillon, and Chardonnay. However, the focus is shifting more and more to the two typical South African varieties, Chenin Blanc and Pinotage. The appointment of Tariro Masayiti as winemaker and Hildegard Witbooi as gardener and vineyard manager has opened a new and very exciting chapter at the winery. The arrival of Jürgen & Susanne Schneider from Germany to open a restaurant on the estate has made Springfontein one of the most attractive destinations in the region. Farmhouses in the Milkwood Forest complement the exquisite experience that Springfontein has to offer.
