When headhunting, we look to a resume to describe a person’s experiences and qualifications. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do the same for everything we purchase and consume? Personally, I’d like to learn if my lettuce was grown by a team of professional farmers or if Joe down the road added food dye to make my spinach green.
This Sipping on Science will uncover our winemaker’s resume. Untamed may not be on the shelves at grocery store, but that shouldn’t discredit the knowledge behind each bottle.
Dane Sanvido
Dane didn’t aspire to be a winemaker. Born in Cape Town South Africa, his father was a civil engineer for the family company, Sanvido and Sons. Dane had every intention to follow in his father’s footsteps and learn the family trade; however, during college at the Cape Peninsula University, South Africa took a political downturn and Dane’s once bright future in the family business started to dim.
During his studies for Civil Engineering, Dane was tasked to an internship at a vineyard. He found he spent more time with the grapes than crafting the road he was meant to redesign. Dane shifted his college studies to Enology where he graduated with this winemaking degree in addition to Viticulture and Pomology (the study of fruit). He set out to conquer the wine industry.
For those that don’t know, South Africa produces over a million tonnes of grapes a year, houses nearly 2,700 wineries, and exports over $1.4 billion of wine per year. Needless to say, the wine industry is very large. With a large industry comes a lot of competition, not just for wineries but for qualified employees. It is an unspoken rule in South Africa that before a person can operate as a winemaker, one must work at least 10 harvests. Grape harvests only occur one season per year, but Dane’s patience would not hold up for 10 years.
Instead of working one harvest in South Africa every year, Dane began harvest hopping. Because the northern and southern hemispheres have opposing seasons, he worked a harvest in South Africa (January-March), and then traveled to Europe to work the next harvest (August-November) in the same year. Practicing this method would land Dane a winemaking position in under 5 years, allow him to travel the world, and experience different winemaking techniques.
Dane earned the title of a winemaking position internationally as well as locally within the United States for numerous wineries. Large and small producers alike, Dane gained recognition and knowledge in the wine industry that few acquire. If you ask him, Dane will say that wine is made in the vineyard, “good wine is made from good grapes.” We currently source grapes from sustainable vineyards and continue sustainable practices in the cellar with minimal intervention.
I don’t mean to brag when listing Dane’s experience, I offer it as an explanation for the quality of our wines. There are a lot of wines on the market, but Dane’s knowledge differentiates our product from the rest. A benefit from purchasing wines directly from Untamed is knowing who, where, and how your wines were produced. Have a question on winemaking or the wines? Give get in contact with us, we’d love to answer your questions!
As promised, below is Dane’s resume, we hope you taste the experience in your glass.
Uva Mira, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Keibees, Durbanville, South Africa
Durbanville Hills Winery, Durbanville, South Africa
Welbedacht Wine Estate, Wellington, South Africa
Stone Street Wines, Healdsburg, California
Doolhof Wine Estate, Wellingtn, South Africa
Stonehill Winery, Missouri
Mayer am Pfarrplatz, Vienna, Austria
Coriole Vineyards, McLaren Vale, South Australia
Chateau Yaldara, Barossa, South Australia
Clos du Bois, Geyserville, California
Kim Crawford, Blenheim, New Zealand
Georis Winery, Carmel, California
Augusta Vin, Fredericksburg, Texas
Untamed Wine Estates