Dewaldt’s father took over the family farm, Uitvlug, from his father when he was only 19. It’s an austere land he worked. Uitvlug is nestled in the Joubertskloof, the easternmost kloof in the Perdeberg and the heart of the Swartland, one of South Africa’s starkest and most demanding wine growing regions.

It is no understatement to say that Dewaldt grew up among the vines. In a region where farm boys are expected to be able to drive by the age of eight, the second Heyns son was familiar with hard work at a young age. Perhaps inevitably, his work in the family vineyards taught him a love for viticulture and the honesty of labour. It was also here that he began to identify his father by his hands, marked as they were by a life of toil in the Swartland sun.

‘Since I was young, I have identified my father by his hands, which bear the signs of his labour. This stark region keeps you humble; a man has to be close to the soil to be successful here. Growing up on this farm to a great extent has shaped the man I am today.’