Joep Schoof, left, is a would- be Dutch banker who has found himself custodian and director of one of the world’s most most admirable community projects. Spier Wine Farm, in Stellenbosch, sits on 620 hectares that top international insurance magnate Dick Enthoven (who also owns Nando’s restaurants, worldwide), is turning into alternate, for which read thoughtful, life style.
Yes, there are highly productive vineyards with a barrel room, shown above. There is an art studio where local artists work, sometimes to commission: there are also displays of locals’ work, displayed for a monthly prize (see some, behind Joep Schoof). There are working farms and butchers’ shops, and bakeries, and restaurants and bars, and a family-style friendly-luxury village-like hotel. And there is also a serious conference centre where the first of a planned annual Davos-like think tank will take place this September. All in all, Spier Wine Farm employs well over 600 locals, who, with their families, benefit from Dick Enthoven’s imagination, and money, and from Joep Schoof’s passion. Heroes like these inspire youngsters considering hospitality as a career.
