Jurgen & Susanne Schneider — compelling dining

Jennifer Weber set the scene: “Jurgen opened a restaurant in Eastern Germany and it received its Michelin star after only 10 months. Berliners drove 160km over gravel roads to dine there. He knows what he’s doing. He’s had a Michelin star continuously for 18 years.”

“It wasn’t easy,” says Jurgen, “because there was nothing there when we started but… we have experience in adventures!  We lived in a mobile home.”  Today, Googling Gutshaus Stolpe shows a different story.  They are a couple that revel in big challenges and hard work.

They met while Susanne trained under Jurgen and discovered they shared the same passions.  In Germany, they have trained over 60 people under the German apprentice system and they want to do the same in Stanford.

Jurgen’s style of cooking is creative — he’s a forager… you’ll find him out on his mountain bike looking for mushrooms or edible plants.  “There’s so much you can do with seaweed, for example,” he says, “in Europe you pay more than €20/kg for it!”

Less concerned “with the optics”, he concentrates on tastes, textures and aromatics: “you can get three or four different tastes from one product.”  He tries to find interesting combinations.

A dinner — in the building site of the to-be-restaurant, was held for a German TV crew that filmed their departure from Germany, their arrival in SA and the town they have made their new home.  The menu was written on the wall; produce was mainly foraged from around the farm… and the result was a dining experience that all agreed was unsurpassed anywhere!

They’ve already planted their vegetable garden and orchard, and most days that’s where one finds Susanne while Jurgen oversees the renovation of the old building that’s being converted in the restaurant.

When the restaurant opens in October, Jurgen promises a menu that will change daily, be close to nature and very seasonal.  Apart from the fine dining area, “there will be a Winemaker’s Table — a long table where guests can come together and interact – we will also serve a very affordable set menu as well as small dishes , like salads and cheeseplatters etc.   We think that Stanfordians will want to visit us in the evening just to have a glass of wine,” says Susanne.  It will be a very “social” restaurant.

They have lots of ideas, “but we’ll see what works,” Jurgen says.

Expect a new and very compelling reason to visit Stanford from October.

Looking across the vines at Springfontein Wine Estate towards the lagoon and Hermanus

Jennifer & Johst Weber

Johst Weber always had the aim that by the time he was forty he would start a venture of his own, something he could be truly passionate about.

A second generation mining engineer in Germany’s Ruhr Valley, he was an executive at the Thyssen Group, responsible for facility management.  After Thyssen he started an energy contracting business which provides cost-effective energy solutions, and operates in Germany and the USA.

With his passion for wine, acquiring a wine estate was an obvious choice.  Farms in the more established areas were too pricey and then he heard about a farm that might be for sale outside Stanford — not a known wine-growing area of any note although estates in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley nearby were already very highly regarded.

Visiting the farm, he found it was occupied by a few cows and goats, and a solitary old man.  The rest was wilderness, but there was a productive spring and a limestone ridge ran through the property which made it ideal for vines.

So, in 1995, he bought Springfontein with a group of friends, retaining the majority share.  The first vines were planted in 1998 and the last blocks completed in 2002.  The first vintage was in 2005.

Vines cover 25ha of the 500ha property.  The vineyards are made up of 80% red varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Shiraz, Pinotage and Merlot, and 20% white varietals such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Semillon and Chardonnay. The two flagship wines of the winery are two typical South African varieties namely the Jil’s Dune Chenin blanc and the Jonathan’s Ridge Pinotage.

Jennifer, Johst’s second wife, has brought a new focus and energy to the estate.  From the USA, she grew up in farming communities and trained in France and Germany on biodynamic farms.  Her first business was landscaping in California which she ran for six years.  When her marriage ended, she needed to earn more money and started consulting as a systems advisor and business coach, working for HP, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Audi in Germany.  Her last projects as sales and technical trainer finished in 2011.

Together they bring the determination and competence to make Springfontein a winning destination in its own right.  The appointment Tariro Masayiti as winemaker last year started a new and very exciting chapter in the wines from the estate.  The arrival of Jurgen & Susanne Schneider from Germany this year to open a restaurant on the estate later in the year will make Springfontein one of the most compelling destinations in the area.  Farm accommodation in the Milkwood forest will follow later.

And it’s not just about the estate and how they treat staff there, they are also committed to making a difference in the wider community.  They are exploring the possibility of opening a culinary academy in the town where students will get their practical experience at the estate’s restaurant.

They may have just been known for their wines up to now, but Springfontein is about to become far more than that in the coming months…