The cast of Radford Dale reads like a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and two Ladies - by no means an afterthought, more a stylistic affectation given the title of the original comic). You see the original League, a comic book series created back in 1999 (which in our collective memory still seems quite recent, though a whopping 19 years ago), later made into a feature film (notably Sean Connery’s last ever), brings together protagonists from literary works by Jules Verne (Around the World in Eighty Days), H.G. Wells (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), Bram Stoker (Dracula), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), H. Rider Haggard (King Solomon’s Mines), Ian Fleming (James Bond), Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray), Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer) and a few more obscure, yet iconic figures. Together these characters encounter a number of obstacles, as one does, but rather than their mere actions, it is the multi-layered, well thought out personalities and intricate backstories / experiences of each character that contributes to the inevitable resolution. We could not help but draw the comparison between the rich character histories of these literary figures and the people behind Radford Dale wine, each one’s fingerprint distinct, each one an extraordinary gentleman (or lady) contributing to a product that has in recent years gone from strength to strength, most notably in the form of Platter’s Best Red Wine of 2017 (the Radford Dale Black Rock 2014).
The Screenplay
Were we tasked with writing the screenplay of THEIR feature film it would start with two characters, the ‘Radford’ and the ‘Dale’. Alex Dale and Ben Radford, or as we like to think of them: Allan Quartermain of King Solomon’s Mines (played by Sean Connery in the OTHER film) and the Invisible Man from Wells’s novel by the same name. Like the character we choose to pair him with, Alex Dale is British schooled, now living and thriving in Africa. UNLIKE his character however, while schooled in the UK, Alex comes from an upbringing in Burgundy, where his family owned property and where he did his first vintage at the age of 15, moving there full-time at the age of 16 and subsequently attending the University of Dijon and Wine School in Beaune. Ben on the other hand, the Invisible Man (now, not then), was educated in South Australia and helped in the family vineyards and cellars from a young age and throughout his formative years. He met Alex in Pickwick’s Pub & Wine Bar in Beaune, Alex was working for the legendary Drouhin Burgundian Wine Family during the daytime and Ben was doing a vintage, they became fast friends and still are, 30 years on.
Allan Quartermain and the Invisible Man
By co-incidence they both ended up in South Africa in the early 1990’s, Ben at Rustenberg and Alex at Hartenberg, moving here within 6 months of each other. By 1994 Alex had done 5 vintages in the Cape and had resolved to move here once and for all when the first free, democratic elections were held. Ben, similarly had been wanting to prove himself, away from his family’s shadow in Australia and had stayed on in South Africa. Alex worked for Longridge Winery in Stellenbosch while Ben worked with Glen Carlou’s Walter Finlayson on a new project entitled Slaley, ahead of the 1995 vintage. Alex eventually brought on Ben as Head Winemaker at Longridge where they were at last working together. In 1998 they decided to create their own project, seeing the opportunity to make their own wines by focussing on old-fashioned notions of terroir and minimal intervention winemaking. Radford Dale was born to make the most faithfully South African wines possible, as naturally as possible, focussing equally on areas with (as yet at the time) unrecognised potential, such as the Swartland and more famous winemaking areas, such as Stellenbosch. Choosing to let the Cape guide their winemaking rather than traditional techniques from abroad, they were to be among the first generation of winemakers to take it upon themselves to design the future of the Cape’s wine identity. In 2003 Ben met and married a Somerset West girl, in a ceremony officiated by Alex, and they decided to make their life back in Ben’s native South Australia (hence the Invisible Man reference). Ben retains an “emotional-link shareholding” and continues to support Radford Dale from afar.
The rest of the Cast
Since Ben’s departure, Alex has introduced a number of gentlemen and women to the cast, what he calls “a wonderful collection of friends in wine” that make up his shareholding team. These include Robert Hill-Smith from Australia’s illustrious Yalumba wines, rated the 4th most admirable wine brand in the world this year. We imagine him as Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo from ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’, Nemo being Greek for ‘I give what is due’, he is revealed to be a Hindu Prince which speaks to the aristocratic wine heritage of Mr. Hill-Smith himself. Cliff Roberson, an icon in the UK wine industry strikes us as a Sherlock Holmes type character, while Edouard Labeye, an unstoppable wine consultant from the Rhône Valley, more a Phileas Fogg, straight out of ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ given his flying winemaker ways. South African serial entrepreneur and wine lover Andy Openshaw HAS to be James Bond. And Heather Whitman, one of the two ladies, Alice, a faithful team-member and friend from the wonderland of Longridge. Kathleen Krone, a Chartered Accountant with an awesome wine habit is Mina Harker, the character responsible for exposing Dracula and his bloody exploits and his eventual capture/death through her precise documentation of the journals, letters and newspaper clippings on his activities; work well-suited to a chartered accountant no? Lastly, star winemaker Jacques de Klerk should be Tom Sawyer, the youthful companion of Huckleberry Finn, a fundamental team member for the wine journey ahead.
Every Radford Dale wine has a story, an ethic, a site from which it originates, a character. It seems only fitting that from this august group of people, a group of wine characters have sprung; which given their creators, well, we’re all ears.
Added to the South African wines and because of the far-reaching influence of these individuals, Radford Dale also functions as importer of an impressive number of highly awarded wines from Australia, New Zealand and France, further proof of the powers of this League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and two Ladies).
We are fortunate to benefit from this power and offer you access to their trove of treasures. After all, super powers should be used for the greater good.
