We were invited by Gary Jordan to a gathering of his family and friends to celebrate his father, Ted's, life
Ted Jordan died in April at the age of 90
The modern Jordan family history started with Gary Jordan’s great-grandfather Alfred Jordan
who opened a shoe factory in Wellington in 1899.
Ted Jordan was the third generation of shoemakers in the family and joined Jordan Shoes, the family business, as a young man. He eventually filled his father’s shoes as Managing Director in 1961 in Wellington, where his father and grandfather had both served as Mayor
The family's history in the shoe making industry is commemorated in the Jordan Cobbler's Hill red blend
After his early retirement in 1982, Ted and his wife Sheelagh bought two adjoining grape farms straddling the Bottelary Hills in the Stellenboschkloof, with 360º views taking in both False Bay and Table Bay. This was on the advice of experienced wine farmer Jan “Boland” Coetzee, famous for his role as a Springbok rugby player
Ted and Sheelagh started an extensive replanting programme, specialising in classic varietals suited to the different soils and slopes. This in itself was a pioneering move in the South African industry at the time, when vineyards tended to be planted anywhere without regard to varietal suitability.
Gary Jordan took a Bachelor of Science Degree at the University of Cape Town, majoring in Geology, and then worked as a Field Geologist for the Geological Survey in charge of various base metal prospecting projects throughout the Bushveld Igneous Complex. With their typical thoroughness and his geological training, Gary worked with Ted and helped analyse the farm’s complex soils before they started to replant the vineyards in 1985.
Gary then did further study at the Viticultural and Oenological Research Institute, in Stellenbosch.
At UCT, he met, and subsequently married, Kathy who graduated with a double major in Economics and Industrial Psychology. Together, in 1988, they went to the United States and studied Viticulture and Oenology at the University of California (Davis). They also completed a 6 month internship at Iron Horse Winery in Sonoma.
Gary and Kathy returned from the USA, built the winery in 1992 and worked on their first vintage in 1993, since when they have jointly spearheaded the growth and development of the family-run Jordan Wine Estate.
Through Gary and Kathy’s time in America and until he retired at 78 in 2013, Ted continued to work on the farm, using his beloved bulldozer to prepare new vineyards, planting several varietals on sites he believed best suited to them and taking part in the harvests. His work was validated in that several of those vineyards are still producing excellent grapes. They are the source of the Jordan Timepiece range of Old Vines wines. The logo on these wines' labels is in Ted’s handwriting.
The memorial celebration was held on the terrace of the tasting facility on Jordan wine estate
A selection of the best Jordan wines, served by Norest and Leon to the guests
Juanita Jolly with Jordan's previous marketing manager, Thea van der Merwe
A portrait of Ted and a continuous slide show of photographs of Ted and his family and friends
The next Jordan generation. Bianke and Alex Jordan and their new baby, Abigail
Guests were invited to bring a special bottle to the celebration
Michael Bampfield Duggan, Lynne Jarché Ford and neighbouring Overgaauw estate owner David van Velden
Gary reminisced about his father with his sister Tracy Holmes, and her daughter Nicole Shield
Kathy is representing the estate at the International Wine and Spirits Exhibition in London
joined by Tracy's husband Tim Holmes while Tracy told her side of the family story
followed by Alex
and summed up by Gary
A large number of guests attended
Alex, Gary, Tracy, Nicole Shield and Tim Holmes
A selection of warm and crisp canapés, fresh from the adjoining bakery, very delicious
Industry chats and plans to visit London....
Winemaker Sjaak Nelson, straight off the plane after disgorging their English sparkling wine
at the family's Mouse Hall estate in Sussex
Autumn colours and building rain clouds on hillside vineyards in Stellenbosch Kloof on our way home
All the stories we have produced since 2012
can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page
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