Wine in a war: SA vitner gryps chance in desert

Boaz Dreyer (68) made aliya from South Africa with a vision of one day planting a vineyard, making wine, and leaving a legacy for his four children and 12 grandchildren. He has realised this lifelong dream in a raging war.

Dreyer describes himself as an unconventional thinker. “I always wanted to plant vines. I discovered, after years of living in Israel, that where there are no vines, there is no peace.” His wife, Rina, (58) fortunately always had the foresight to rein him in from a lot of his wild ideas. “I’m glad she didn’t stop me this time,” he says, pointing out, “We were in it together from the start.”

The couple built a 2ha vineyard out of nothing but dusty desert dunes. Located on the Egyptian border, just 30km from the Gaza strip, Dreyer Estate is now a fully operational biodynamic vineyard and winery after 12 years of blood, sweat, and tears.

“When the first vines were planted in 2012, we had no idea what we were doing,” admits Dreyer. “How do you grow vines in sand dunes?

“We ran into many problems, because it’s quite crazy to think you can grow wine grapes in sand that reaches temperatures of more than 40°C.” But that didn’t stop them. Dreyer sought advice from his brother – a plant buff and lecturer at the University of Cape Town.

“Together, we worked out how to combat the severe climate by developing a unique double trellised system, and we planted in two tiers.” Adding the second shaded level really helped in ensuring the grape skins matured and didn’t just produce a sugary grape-water version of the real deal.

Although innovative, the system built by the Dreyer brothers means that the grapes take a lot longer to ripen, but it works. “Our first harvest in 2016 was made and bottled through an off-site contracted winery.”

Dreyer called it Shefa Wines, “shefa” being Hebrew for abundance, because it was made out of nothing but sand dunes. “There was literally no water and no electricity when we started,” he says. “But with lots of hard work, and the help of friends and family, we got it going. The fact that we produced a harvest from the vineyard in our lifetime is already a dream come true.”

Going into the wine business entails waiting at least 10 years for a return on investment. “I was working two other jobs just to keep us going while we waited for the vineyard to harvest,” he says.

More abundance followed.

In 2021, Dreyer was inspired to change the farm’s growing protocol to a biodynamic process, which means no pesticides or herbicides are used, and all the pruning and picking is done by hand. The first natural wines were produced from the 2022 harvest through spontaneous fermentation.

“It’s more expensive to do it the natural way,” he says, “but it’s an emerging market worldwide as more and more people lean into making healthier lifestyle choices.”

The following year produced four grape varieties and 5 500 bottles.

“Vines aren’t a business without making the wine,” Dreyer says, “so I went off to study how it’s done. Today, we’re grateful to be in the final phase of building our own on-site winery. Although construction has been delayed by the war, we continue to finish it on our own.”

He decided to change the name from Shefa to Dreyer Estate when his youngest daughter, Carolyn, (35) and her husband, Yan, got on board, managing the farm and taking care of sales.

Rina was inspired to grow herbs and create a natural range of essential oils, which they have been producing since 2014. “The oils were born out of Rina’s need to treat our son, who suffered serious post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being called up to fight in the Second Lebanon War.”

Her research into alternative treatments for PTSD brought her to the use of essential oils, and within a few weeks, their son made an almost miraculous return to normality.

“The whole country changed on 7 October, and I don’t believe there to be one Israeli citizen who isn’t suffering from some form of PTSD,” Dreyer says.

Dreyer also proudly runs an internship programme on the farm for students from all over Africa, including Zambia and Malawi, who are studying advanced agriculture.

“Next, I would like for the farm to be part of avida me’odefet, for soldiers to work in the vineyards and hopefully in the new winery after their service to the army. I believe strongly that working with nature helps to unwind and repair the soul,”  he says.

The war has been a setback for business, Dreyer says, but it’s part of the dynamics of living in Israel.

“We’ve been at war since independence, and our resilience is certainly being tested now. They say wine gladdens the heart of man, and we have so much to be thankful for. We live in hope that we can continue living our dream.”