The Vineyard Dream Born from Lockdown

Cape Town, South Africa – Facing the challenge of a COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Natasha Jacka found unexpected opportunity. Stuck at home with her studies at an agricultural college suspended, Jacka decided to plant a vineyard at her family residence in South Africa. This step aimed to advance her dream of becoming a winemaker by bringing it closer to home.

Wine production is typically a slow process. It took four years before Jacka could hold her first harvest and create her debut vintage. Her wines, crafted from grapevines grown, nurtured, and harvested at her parents’ sea-view home in Cape Town, garnered positive feedback from critics. The hands-on effort, including stomping the grapes herself, was a significant relief.

Jacka stated, “It could have been so much work and if it doesn’t deliver, you know, then you just feel… I wasn’t looking at it like, ‘oh this is going to make a fortune,’ or anything like that. This is a labor of love.”

Christian Eedes, editor of the online wine review publication winemag.co.za, recognized Jacka’s project as “a triumph of hope over good sense,” given the challenges of producing fine wine and making a profit from a small vineyard.

Jacka fit 1,400 vines into two garden blocks at her parents’ home, previously part of a smallholding. One block produces a white blend, while the other yields a syrah red wine varietal. These numbers are notably smaller compared to typical wine farms, which often have over 50,000 vines.

Eedes commented, “There’s plenty of space in the world for craft and handmade. It’s the opposite of mass produced. It’s made with thought and care, and typically hard to come by.”

The pandemic impacted Jacka during a pivotal phase of her life. She was 27, ready to shift from working in restaurants to studying viticulture at an agricultural college in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. Her aspiration faced limitations when the pandemic confined her to her parents’ home in Noordhoek, Cape Town’s suburb. Despite this, she saw potential in her surroundings.

“I was actually looking out the window and I thought, imagine if there were vines here,” she said. This realization evolved into family discussions and significant labor.

Jacka cleared the land, acquired over 1,000 vines, and planted them with support stakes. Her parents assisted, although her mother, Sonia, was excused from planting after an upside-down vine incident.

Neighbors showed curiosity, and Jacka also addressed challenges, such as dealing with Spirit, the family’s miniature horse, who found the vines edible.

“We lost one or two vines,” Jacka noted, now age 32. Keeping the vineyard horse-proof presented an additional obstacle.

Her Noordhoek vineyard fueled her broader winemaking path. Her Alinea wines include five additional varieties from grapes sourced from the Cape Town region, known for its winemaking heritage.

Jacka anticipates her next Noordhoek vintage as she continues multiple roles: picker, stomper, labeler, sales representative, accountant, and delivery driver, she said, laughing.

Eedes expressed continued fascination with Jacka’s micro-vineyard, born out of lockdown creativity. “She managed to not be bored, like we all were,” Eedes stated. “It’s really just an extraordinary undertaking.”