From soil to sip: the Hanekoms' full-circle wine story

On the quiet outskirts of Piketberg, Western Cape, where the Swartland sun burns across rolling hills, a family-run wine enterprise has mastered the art of doing everything under one sky.

- Zunel van Eeden.

At Schenkfontein, the Hanekom family has built more than a business - they've built a legacy that begins in the soil and ends in the glass, shaped by hard work, family ties and a deep respect for their land and people.

Their story is one from soil to sip, where each step of the journey, from vineyard to bottling line, is guided by the same set of hands and values.

ROOTED IN LEGACY

The Hanekom name is part of Piketberg's fabric. The family's story began on Winkelshoek, a historic mixed farm named after the small trading store that once stood at the road's edge - 'the shop on the corner'.

It was a place where workers and locals gathered, where farming met community long before the word 'brand' meant anything.

In 1992, Hennie Hanekom, a lifelong farmer, purchased a portion of the original Winkelshoek family farm and established Schenkfontein.

The name, he discovered, carried special meaning: a teacher named Meester Schenk once taught children beneath a pomegranate tree near a natural spring on the land.

When Hennie combined the two words - Schenk and fontein - he later learned that it could be interpreted as 'wine provider'.

It felt like a name handed down by fate.

Together with his wife Marianna, Hennie raised three children - one daughter and two sons - who grew up among vines and tractors, learning early on that success starts with effort.

Today, that same work ethic runs through the next generation, with both sons steering a different arm of the business.

THE VINEYARDS - DISCIPLINE AND DISCOVERY

At the core of Schenkfontein lies the vineyard, where Hendrik Hanekom, the eldest son, manages the vines and the wine they make. The Swartland's dry summers and unpredictable rainfall test both plant and farmer, but the Hanekoms have learned to work with what the land gives them.