Most winemakers lucky enough to own the land they work spend a lifetime trying to master it. Christo Le Riche takes on something more complicated. Le Riche Family Wines owns almost no vineyards at all and sets itself the task of capturing the breadth of Stellenbosch through a single cultivar.
In Part 1 of The Long View, Christo explains how he chooses the vineyards and farmers he works with, why buying land in Stellenbosch rarely adds up for a wine business, and why those pressures might leave Le Riche better placed to thrive than the region's more traditional estate models. He also traces how Stellenbosch Cabernet has changed over the past 20 years, from canopy management in the vineyard to the swing in ripeness and the pendulum of style.
Christo Le Riche is director and cellar master of Le Riche Family Wines in Stellenbosch, a position he has held since 2009. He studied at Stellenbosch University and has worked vintages at Screaming Eagle, Stag's Leap and Chateau Angelus. He is a member of the Cape Winemakers Guild, and in 2016 he co-founded the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective, which he chairs. Le Riche was named Platter's Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year in 2019 and again in 2023.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. In Part 2, we get into what happens once the fruit reaches the cellar, and a wine that appears to go against almost everything modern Stellenbosch Cabernet stands for.
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