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Carlo’s childhood spanned family farms across the Lowveld, Waterberg, and Western Cape, grounding him in nature’s beauty and the value of physical labor. After school, he trained in cabinetmaking in Basel, Switzerland, where a four-year apprenticeship revealed the magic in meticulous craftsmanship, fostering his respect for artisanship. Returning to South Africa, Carlo earned a degree in Oenology and Viticulture from Stellenbosch University. A harvest at De Trafford deepened his belief in how attention to detail shapes quality, which he applied on the family farm in Breedekloof, where he grew grapes and made wine for four seasons.
His passion for learning took him to wine harvests in France, where he connected with vignerons in Bordeaux and the Loire, then back to Switzerland to work in a Zurich fine wine store and gain experience with European harvests in the Douro and Mosel regions. A friendship with the Mittelberger brothers at their Bolzano cooperage led Carlo to assemble two 500L barrels for Eight Gates Wine, still in use today.
Kolja, born in Cape Town, attended German Schools in Johannesburg and Cape Town before completing a Garden Landscaping Apprenticeship in Berlin. His love for nature led him to Sendai, Japan, where he cared for plant displays in offices and stores, took Bonsai classes, and explored Japan’s famous gardens. Inspired by Japanese culture’s respect for nature, he later studied Business & Accounting in London with dreams of starting a landscaping business.
This path, however, led him to fund management, taking him to cities like Melbourne, Vancouver, and Singapore. Throughout his 8-year finance career, his entrepreneurial side emerged, trading items from African leather goods to netsuke. After meeting his wife from Adelaide, the couple returned to the Southern Hemisphere, where Kolja launched an import and distribution business in South Africa. Now happily married with two children, he has created a home full of small creatures and reflects his landscaping passion in his own garden.
