Preview
Exploring the Vine Season 01
Three hot young men making wine, drinking wine and talking about wine. What’s not to love about this series?
Producer Justin Bonello struck gold with this trio of handsome wine lads – James Corder, Stuart Botha and Howard Booysen – who are not only wonderfully easy on the eye, but they are best friends, know their stuff, and the camera adores them. What splendid good fortune.
James is the viticulturist and vineyard manager at his family farm in the emerging wine region of Elgin; Stuart is the winemaker at Eagle’s Nest in Constantia (which produces award-winning shiraz); and Howard is a Cape Wine Guild Protégé whose goal is to be a cellar master, with the side ambition of having his own label and “just enjoy making mouth puckering beautiful wines”.
While James and Stuart are based on their own farms – the former produces grapes for a variety of cellars – Howard gets to move around a lot, and experience every aspect of winemaking. In the first three episodes of Exploring The Vine, we follow them before, during and after the annual harvest, and any committed wine drinker will gain a deeper respect for the backbreaking, exhausting and unglamorous labour that starts the process of getting that grape into their glass.
In other episodes, the guys go exploring, hunting down the oldest vine in South Africa, meeting other wine makers, visiting wine festivals, discovering the people, lifestyle and stories behind South Africa’s own pinotage, and trawling the dusty plains of the Karoo along Route 62 – the longest wine route in the world. Before coming back to their farms to mull over everything they have learned, the guys delve into organic wine farming as well as visit the iTownship Wine Festival in Gugs and learn the tales behind some of our black-owned brands.
It’s a well-rounded yet fresh, fun and unpretentious look at the South African wine industry, in a beautifully filmed and edited package which shows off the Western Cape and surrounds in all her glory. Oh, and did we mention the three hot young presenters?
Extra Information:
Season Preview
Episode 01
With the looming harvest just around the corner, James, Howard and Stuart have to focus on the job at hand to make sure that this year’s grapes produce another batch of award winning wines. The big question is, will they be ready in time for the first grapes?
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Episode 02
Harvest is in full swing while raging wildfires are sweeping across neighbouring farms. James, Howard and Stuart have to be ready for what Mother Nature has to throw at them.
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Episode 03
Autumn finally arrives, the harvest gets blessed as tradition dictates, and it’s time for James, Howard and Stuart to focus on the art of winemaking to turn their grape juice into nectar of the gods.Read More >
Episode 04
After an intense three months of winemaking Stuart, Howard and James finally get some down time to hit the road and experience South Africa’s biggest and craziest wine festival.
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Episode 05
The boys embark on an epic adventure back into South Africa’s mysterious wine history to find the oldest vine in SA - a wild goose chase that takes the boys all the way inland and back again before they track down their treasure in the most unlikely location.
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Episode 06
James takes Howard and Stuart on an adrenalin-filled journey, action packed with adventure sports and extreme wipe-outs, all to find the most maverick winemaker in South Africa.
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Episode 07
The boys trade in their farm clothes for suits and ties as they dress to impress the women at the Annual Women & Wine Awards. Meet the extraordinary women behind the ever-changing face of the South Africa wine industry.
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Episode 08
The boys explore the people, lifestyle and stories behind this proudly South African wine…and even try their hand at fishing.Read More >
Episode 09
Spring fever kicks into full swing and so the boys have decided to turn their beer-guzzling friends into experienced wine connoisseurs. They hire a minibus and embark on a journey across the longest wine route in the world, Route 62. It’s a journey that tests the boys’ knowledge of wine, as well as their livers.
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Episode 10
The journey across the longest wine route can’t be contained in just one episode. Howard James, Stuart and their friends find themselves travelling through the dry planes of the Klein Karoo. The beer loves are on the point of conversion but it’s time to put them to the test.
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Episode 11
James takes Howard and Stuart on an all “green” road trip to explore the various methods of making organic wine. The boys explore some of the alternative beliefs behind this style of winemaking.Read More >
Episode 12
It’s weekend and the boys hit the iTownship Wine Festival in Gugulethu to discover the interesting new tales behind some of South-Africa’s shining black-owned brands.
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Episode 13
The boys are back at the farms and it’s time to consider everything they have learned during the past year. Will their approach change to this year’s harvest? Have they grown as winemakers? Time can only tell.
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