Vino pH was founded by the dynamic French & South African Dream Team, Pauline Roux (p) & Hanneke Krüger (H), two young, passionate women winemakers driven by a curiosity and energy for life. The are friends foremost, but make a pretty mean team when it comes to making things happen and creating magic.  They met being workout and running friends, while working together in the Paardeberg while Pauline was at Lammershoek and Hanneke at Adi Badenhort’s cellar.  Hanneke asked Pauline to join her in Italy later that year to work harvest on a project that Adi was running in Abruzzo.  It was there they realized they could not only run and party, but also work together.

When they returned home, the two put their heads together and created Vino pH. They both see wine in the same way: a product of science but also of the soul. They are driven and very disciplined when it comes to winemaking, passionate about wine and sharing the same work and life ethic. Curious and experimental, they apply their minds to puzzling tasks and like to understand the why and how, but ultimately rely on their feminine intuition and feelings.

Today, ‘p’ (Pauline) has passed the sales baton fully to ‘H’ (Hanneke) but will continue to consult on the marketing side. The pair are still working together on some other wine projects and will continue to feed off each other’s zest for life. Hanneke and her husband, Thinus, who owns FRAM, have moved to their new property on Piket-bo-berg (a new, high elevation ward within the Swartland where Johan ‘Stompie’ Meyer of Mother Rock also lives and makes wines). Vino pH will be based here starting in the 2024 vintage. In 2023, Hanneke planted about 2.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon on their Koffieklip soils on Wolkloof. In 2024, she and Thinus are planting about 1.5 acres of a white field blend comprised of Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, and Verdelho, and they have plans of planting Grenache and Cinsault which would be part of both Vino pH and FRAM wines. In terms of farming, Hanneke considers themselves lucky to have lots of wildlife in the area like the Cape Leopard, but they also have small deer which love nibbling on the vines. In order to keep natural paths open for the animals, Hanneke tries to safeguard their vineyards by fencing them off and leaving green fynbos paths in between the vineyard blocks. As for the winemaking, the wines will continue to be farmed organically, hand harvested, and made without any additions but sulfur at bottling. The next chapter of Vino pH promises to bring fresh energy to these fun, drinkable wines of place.