Piggy Perseverance
Got Pig?
David Wibberley and David Nel talk in slogans. Like Wibbs says, Dave doesn’t speak English much, he mostly calls people ‘George’ and they, in turn, call him one of the 47 nicknames he reads out to me from his phone: Smokey Sauce, Smokey, Steamy Rumble, Steely-McNeely, Rocket, Demon Blonde, Chardonnay-nay, Butch Cassidy and the Sancerre Kid, Florence and the Burgundy (he loves Burgundy), Pappa Burgundy … I mean I couldn’t write them all down quick enough, but I can confirm that there ARE 47. Together they’re an intriguing pair, and the force behind Spider Pig Wines, a concept wine brand with fun on the label and incongruously serious wines.
The Pig
The name Spider Pig comes from a Simpson’s episode in which Homer Simpson holds a pig up to the ceiling and hums: “Spider Pig. Spider Pig. Does whatever a spider pig does! Can he swing from a web? No, he can’t! He's a pig. Lookout! He is the spider pig!!” Steely-McNeely says he was at a wine launch in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in 2015 and was humming the song while cavorting with the winemakers and phoned Dave to tell him that he thought Spider Pig would be a great name for a wine. The next morning Dave called Rocket and said he had started work on a logo - Rocket not quite remembering just what he had said, went along with it, and they produced their first wine, a 2014 Pinot Noir from a winemaker who STILL doesn’t like the brand, in short order.
The Juice
Phenomenal JUICE. Since then they’ve gone on to make 7 wines by 6 well-known winemakers (now 10 wines from an undefined number of winemakers), rockstar winemakers making wine from varietals they’re known for. Stephanie Wiid of Thistle & Weed makes their Chenin Blanc; Corlea Fourie of Bosman wines makes their BroZAY and Grenache; Adam Mason previously of Mulderbosch and Raised by Wolves, now of DeMorgenzon makes their Off the Wall Chardonnay; Duncan Savage of Savage Wines is making their 3D Pig Red blend; Christo Le Riche makes their Cab; and Alex Milner of Natte Valleij makes their Cinsault. Now if THAT isn’t an enviable list of winemakers, I’ll eat my Spider Pig branded cap!
The Daves
Dave and Dave didn’t come by these winemakers and their wine by chance, they’re actively involved in the making of the wine and have formed longstanding relationships through their respective careers within the industry. David Wibberley started with a background in the hospitality industry buying wine for the Vineyard Hotel in the early days, moving on to a marketing position at Oldenburg Vineyards, and at the beginning of 2019 formally taking on his role as Pig Number One. David Nel actually met other Dave while selling him wine at the Vineyard Hotel back in the day. Smokey having been a key figure in wine distribution since the early 2000s. With Whazoo Wines {unsure re spelling,} which he started in 2007 representing five small brands, to starting Steele wines on his own in 2009, to becoming head sommelier at La Colombe {if you don’t KNOW, a South African Michelin Star Restaurant} between 2008 and 2014, to starting Publik distribution with David Cope in 2016 AND running Spider Pig officially since 2015. Steele remains actively involved in Publik Distribution as well as CyberCellar, Publik having been acquired by them last year. Spider Pig then, the incarnation of their shared passions and lifestyle, free from the constraints of traditional business models and wholly authentic in its approach. Like Wibbs says, not everyone loves the brand, it's quirky and irreverent and completely in juxtaposition to the elegant, traditional estate brands, but given their following, there’s definitely a market for it.
Bodies By Bacon
Spider Pig represents a whole new era in winemaking, with established winemakers exploring their creativity and capacity by making wines OUTSIDE their main brands and so-doing fuelling the evolution of the industry, I FEEL. Winemakers are given the opportunity to explore their craft outside the mission statement of their own brands and under the decidedly COOL guise of Spider Pig, get to live out their vinous fantasies. OBVIOUSLY within reason, Dave and Dave, while eccentric and cool and sometimes indecipherable when conversing with each other are keen businessmen and wine lovers. When I asked them what their top five requirements of a winemaker were they answered: Continuity; No Bullshit; Pounding the Pavement with the rest of us; Individuals; FRIENDS; AND that they haven’t sold out. Now that’s six, but it makes sense if you look at the way they’ve built their following, it’s been SLOW and steady. Through their various connections, they’ve been able to build a cult following by being represented in the restaurants they love, via their wild and wacky social media following and their MERCHANDISE. The merchandise is an interesting element to the brand, with Wibbs basically dressing Butch Cassidy and the Sancerre Kid in top to bottom Pig - Butch having a particular penchant for grey and pink I’m told. They throw slogans around - ‘Let’s talk Pig’, ‘Cinsation’, ‘Bodies by Bacon’ - and are constantly looking for new ways in which to live out their brand. There’s even underwear that read: ‘Let’s Get Cheeky’. This year they officially opened the Pig Sty, a Pig space that can host anything from technical tastings to full-on Pig Parties, there are no limitations to the physical incarnation of their brand and I think it is THIS freedom that makes the merchandise and the brand so covetable, especially in such a bleak time. Their absolute, REAL joy in what they do, and living it every day is something to aspire to - within any industry.
At the end of the day, I walked out of the Pig Sty reinvigorated. It’s so refreshing to be around people who literally SPEAK things into being. They just get it DONE, while being irreverent and honest and JOYFUL, they somehow run a highly successful business. With incredible wines, made by incredible winemakers who have been given the opportunity to live out their fantasies within the Spider Pig space. While there’s obviously been struggles and failures, (Steele says he learnt that he fucking LOVES Burgundy, but that Burgundy was going to kill him), I ask Wibbs what was their biggest lesson thus far.
His answer? Piggy Perseverance.