23 Silverwaters Vineyard – Love, Family & Wine

LOVE, FAMILY & WINE

WORDS BY DANIELLE RALPH | IMAGES SUPPLIED BY SILVERWATERS VINEYARD

The van der Walt family

Emily & Hercules van der Walt

Spontaneity is the spice of life. Spontaneous is exactly how best to describe Hercules and Emily van der Walt and their journey to becoming the owners of prime real estate overlooking the silver waters of Westernport Bay.

The couple, now married with three gorgeous daughters, met each other in the UK whilst on a backpacking adventure around Europe. Hercules (Herco) grew up on a cattle farm in South Africa and Emily was the city girl from Melbourne. Their worlds collided and would certainly change. It didn’t take long to commit to building a future together in Australia. If fact, they were engaged just one month after meeting and married within the year.

Making a life on land in San Remo has been one of their best, courageous decisions to date. The beloved Silverwaters Vineyard was the surprise bonus. “We were heading to Phillip Island for Australia Day weekend and saw that this 18-acre property was for sale. We actually bought it with the intention to remove the vineyard and just have cows,” Emily begins.

“When we moved here and spoke to the locals, they said that we can’t get rid of those award-winning grapes! We didn't know how to run a vineyard, so we first leased it to local winemakers. They taught us how to run the vineyard. So, the last seven years we've been learning how to manage a successful vineyard.”

The more the van der Walt’s spoke with winemakers in the region, the more they began to understand the quality of the produce that was growing on their land. “There's just something about that vineyard with the slope, the wind and the soil. It just works right. And you could see the winemakers and locals would be devastated if we pulled out those vines. We loved to drink wine, we just knew nothing about the process and just how much work is involved,” Emily reflects.

They haven’t shied away from the hard work and after seven years of learning, growing, and pouring their hearts into this business, the muchloved Silverwaters Vineyard label is back up and running. They began with managing the vineyard and selling the grapes before releasing their first bottles of wine under the Silverwaters Vineyard label in September 2021.

“The years leading up, we never thought we'd get to the stage of bottling our own wine. That first bottle we shared tasted great! Then there was that anxiety of what people would think,” Emily says. The response has been incredibly positive. The added touch of quick, local delivery is also bringing smiles to peoples faces.

“Word of mouth has been the biggest thing. People order our wine, love it, reorder it, and tell their friends. We provide a very reliable service and it's a really good product. When you have a good product and people like your story as well, they support you.”

“People also like that we don't blend our grapes with other vineyards. We don't buy in other grapes. So, if we have a really bad year, we just don't make much wine under the premium Silverwaters Vineyard label. But that keeps the quality there. Everything in that bottle is from our vineyard in San Remo,” Emily says.

Well known winemaker Marcus Satchell has been a mentor to the couple, which they are grateful for. They don’t plan on establishing a cellar door on the property at this stage, which would significantly impact on their current family lifestyle. Instead, the focus remains on that quality product sold online with a local delivery service on offer. Restaurants in the area have also been keen to get Silverwaters Vineyard back on their tables.

Emily and Herco also started a sub label, which is called the Malusa Project. Malusa is the first two letters of their girls’ names, Maisie, Lulu and Sage. This label is all about collaboration. Over the last few years, the family have made a point of their holidays being in wine regions, so Emily and Herco could visit cellar doors and source blends for this side label.

“It was also nice to see what other people were doing and hear their stories and how they've made it work. There are lot of wineries that are run by families, who are all hands-on-deck, which was great for us to see.”

The family relish in coming home to San Remo, where they have an abundance of space and exceptional views out to the bay. “The girls love when we are out picking grapes and spending time out on the motorbike. We built them a BMX track and they love it. As they get older, they will further appreciate this luxury of space as well,” Emily says. “For me, coming from a farming background to finding this place to settle into, it’s like a dream. I still pinch myself to actually own this place,” adds Herco.

Silverwaters Vineyard 2020 Cabernet Shiraz and a 2021 Pinot Gris

“Everyone always talks about things they would love to do, so why not just do it? Yes, this came with hard work and so much risk. We could have lost everything that we have invested and had to start back at square one. We didn’t know which way it was going to go, and we are still finding out. But to actually be the people that just do it, I find that very rewarding,” Emily concludes.

The van der Walt family amongst thier vineyards