Fruitful relationship

After apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, Razvan Macici arrived from Romania to experience the country’s wine harvesting season. “It was a magical time,” recalls Macici, 45. “The country was opening up under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. People were enthusiastic about the future and the wine industry showed promise.” It proved to be a significant moment in Macici’s life. He returned to Romania, back to Dealu Mare, a wine region 70km from Bucharest, where he helped his father make wines at Pietroasa Estate. A year later, his contacts in South Africa offered him an 18-month contract at Zonnebloem, a winery in Stellenbosch. Macici rose from assistant winemaker to cellar manager at Zonnebloem. He then joined Nederburg in Paarl as its cellar master in 2000 at the age of 31, which made him the youngest cellar master in Nederburg’s history.

Excerpt from July 2013 issue of epicure.