Graham Weerts is a Cape Town native, where he spent his childhood and the early part of his winemaking career. It was almost inevitable that Graham would pursue winemaking. It’s a career that draws upon his agricultural heritage and his love of the outdoors, while also offering creative outlets and an intellectual challenge. To him, no other product that humans make offers the complexities and artistic value of wine. It unites people of all cultures. As Graham likes to say, “few wars were started over a great bottle of wine.”

Graham began his career working harvests in South Africa, later moving from the vineyards into the winery as a cellar hand. His stint as a cellar rat secured him the post of assistant winemaker at Mulderbosch Vineyards, where he assisted with the production of their iconic Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. Graham then spent a season working for Chateau de Terrefort-Quancard in Bordeaux. In that time, he earned his degree in viticulture, wine science and pomology from the Elsenburg Agricultural College in Stellenbosch in 1996.

In 1999, Graham found himself in California’s Sonoma County, working harvest at Vérité. After that season, he returned to South Africa where he worked as a winemaker for a few smaller wineries before joining Bellingham Winery. By 2004, he made his way back to California and worked as winemaker for Stonestreet in Alexander Valley through 2014. In addition to making Capensis, Graham oversees vineyard operations for Jackson Family Wines.

Capensis represents a return to Graham’s South African roots.