Update

KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna local Jos le Roux has, in the past month, solidified his position as a "living legend" in the world of brandy distilling, owing to honours he picked up at both the Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards and the Veritas Awards - the most prestigious accolades in the South African wine and spirits industries.

A distinguished individual and recipient of a Veritas Living Legends Award in 2010, the 84-year-old Le Roux's latest achievements are bittersweet as it came courtesy of the Louiesenhof Le Roux Smit 16 Year Alambic Potstill Brandy 2003, which he had created with late wine farm owner, distiller and friend, Stefan Smit (62), who was murdered in his home in June last year.

It was the Michelangelo Awards that came first, with the results announced online on Friday 2 October. 

There, the Le Roux Smit brandy was awarded the Kuehne & Nagel Spirits Grand Prix for the top-scoring spirits and the African Cellar Suppliers Brandy Trophy as the best brandy. At the Veritas Awards, held as a scaled-down event on 14 November, the brandy was awarded a silver in the Potstill Brandy category.

Le Roux, who originally hails from Stellenbosch, moved to Knysna's Loeriehof Old Age Home in September 2019. He studied towards a masters degree in chemistry at the University of Stellenbosch before going on to work at Nietvoorbij, and later the Distillers Corporation until his retirement in 1990.

Jos le Roux Photo: Blake Linder

Le Roux was coaxed out of retirement little over a decade later by Smit, then-owner of the Louiesenhof Wines farm in Stellenbosch, when in 2003 they collaborated on their award-winning brandy.

Speaking of the Michelangelo awards, Le Roux said they "pay significant tribute" to Smit's legacy. The two men were very close and their relationship was not confined to the walls of a cellar or distillery. 

"There was a very special and strong bond between Stefan and myself. In many respects we had a kind of father-and-son relationship," Le Roux said. "Spending our days in the vineyards and in the cellar, oftentimes fooling around, then serious, we always argued about how best to achieve our dream of producing that elusive goal of the finest possible brandy. 

"And somehow we have. I wish he could have been here. But I raise a glass to him and I salute him."

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