South African Winemaker Beck Dies in London, Farm to Continue as Normal
South African winemaker Graham Beck died in London at the age of 80, leaving behind four farms that he said should carry on as normal after he passed away.
“It’s business as usual, that was his wish,” Etienne Heyns, marketing manager of Graham Beck Wines, said in a telephone interview from Franschhoek, near Cape Town. Beck’s body is being flown to Israel today for burial.
Graham Beck wines, a popular choice in South African bottle stores and restaurants for 27 years, range from Railroad Red to the Graham Beck Rhona Rose NV, a sparkling wine with a five-star rating by Marks & Spencer Group Plc. The sparkling wine is made in South Africa’s Method Cap Classique style, which imitates the way France’s best champagnes are produced, and is named after Beck’s wife, Rhona, who was at his side when he died yesterday.
Beck left South Africa about two months ago, according to Heyns, because he liked to spend time at his home in Kensington, London, during the worst of Cape Town’s winter. Beck is survived by his wife of 50 years and his son, Antony, who runs one of the family trust’s stud farms in Kentucky, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Renee Bonorchis in Johannesburg at rbonorchis@bloomberg.net
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