South African Wines: To taste, order and take home

It would be wise to taste at least one Chenin from the Swartland – a region largely associated with wheat, which now produces world-class, food-friendly wine. Chenin Blanc is the grape that’s been drawing attention to South African wine for some time, specifically with reference to what is known as the Swartland Revolution.

While the Swartland Revolution technically refers to an annual event once hosted by a band of winemakers who decamped to the Swartland and challenged the status quo, it is also used more loosely to describe their work. A more precise way of referring to this movement would be the Swartland Independent Producers.

These Independents penned a manifesto to outline what they believe needs to be in place to produce wines that express their origin. The core principles are that wines be made naturally, with minimal intervention in vineyard and cellar (no added yeast, acid or tannin), from grape varieties suited to expressing Swartland conditions (Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon are not on the list, while Chenin Blanc and Cinsault very much are), and with a limit on exposure to new oak so as not to cover up the grape’s essential qualities.

The focus is terroir, specifically that of the Swartland, but also as a greater vision. These are ‘like-minded wine-growers’ who prefer a lighter touch, with as little wine ‘making’ as possible, working with grapes from older bush vines. A talented collective intent on creating wines with a sense of place and in doing so elevating varieties that may have been neglected and overlooked.

Chenin Blanc is significant because it was one of the first varieties received for growing in the Cape and widely planted, with much of it grown to make the base wine for brandy. The Swartland Independents were initially seen as maverick for a couple of reasons, among them their commitment to taking a grape that was ostensibly a workhorse and treating it slightly differently.

One of the founding members, Eben Sadie, took an interest in what might be coaxed out of individual vineyards bearing grapes of maturity and character. He began seeking out parcels of old vines in the Swartland; first prize was finding the right vines, not necessarily purchasing land to plant them. This developed into working with separate but very specific sites, which contributed to starting a revolution.

Palladius was the Chenin-led blend that established Sadie’s wines around 20 years ago, when he inspired a new generation of winemakers to detach from the idea of owning an estate and modelled the potential for making exceptional wines land-free. Fast forward to Chris Alheit who embraced that freedom to become the maker of knock-the-lights-out scoring wine (often mentioned in the same breath as Sadie wines) without owning land.

The first wine was the Cartology, which he describes as ‘a snapshot of the Cape’ made with Chenin and Sémillon that’s been growing for more than 35 years. For over a decade since then, he’s been striving to reveal a picture of the Cape through old bush vines. One of the finest examples is the Magnetic North that came about with the chance rescue of ungrafted Chenin bush vines on a Citrusdal mountainside. Chris now has a farm on the Paardeberg (in the Swartland) where the revolution began.

Adi Badenhorst is one of the original Swartland revolutionaries who made his mark with a white blend that has Chenin at its heart and produces a special single vineyard Steen (a term for Chenin). With Secateurs he puts an accessible yet characteristic Swartland Chenin on the shelf. It consistently delivers value and on tasting punches way above its weight, yet you don’t have to know anything about wine to enjoy it. Secateurs Chenin Blanc by AA Badenhorst Family Wines is a sure bet, widely available and a regular on wine lists. (Also look out for the Caperitif, a Cape vermouth made from Chenin.)

Another one to look out for and that’s likely to be available, even when options are limited, is Kloof Street Old Vine Chenin by Chris and Andrea Mullineux. This is entry-level Mullineux, but like any high-quality endeavour, just because its entry level doesn’t mean it’s not excellent. The Mullineuxs were early Swartland visionaries, and their signature range includes a Chenin-strong Mullineux Old Vines White, while the Single Terroir range leads with soil type.

They have expanded beyond the Swartland with Leeu Passant in Franschhoek, a collaboration between Mullineux and Leeu Family Wines with values that align in terms of reflecting the terroir of the Cape. This means multi-regional reach and access to, for example, century-old vines of Cinsault (see below).

The Hope Margeurite is a flagship for family-owned winery, Beaumont. The first vintage dates to before Chenin became a fine-wine phenomenon in South Africa, with grapes harvested from the farm’s oldest Chenin vines – planted in the ’70s around the time winemaker Sebastian Beaumont’s parents purchased the property. It is just one of several truly great bottles coming out of Bot River. Another is the bold Luddite Shiraz, Luddite followed with a Chenin that’s now in its 10th vintage, and a Chenin blend in their Saboteur range.

An easy-to-find Chenin that’s extremely good value, very drinkable and made according to the palate of an award-winning sommelier is the Kumusha Chenin by Tinashe Nyamudoka. Tinashe was head sommelier at The Test Kitchen, when it ranked in the top 50 Best Restaurants in the World and Best Restaurant in Africa. Along with colleagues and friends Joseph Dhafana, Pardon Taguzu, and Marlvin Gwese, he represented Zimbabwe in the 2017 and 2018 World Blind Wine Tasting Championships, as documented in the film Blind Ambition.

The team of four, who didn’t know each other before meeting in Cape Town, shared similar trajectories. Having left Zimbabwe to seek better economic prospects in South Africa and having no legacy in wine, worked and studied to become sommeliers at restaurants considered the pinnacle of fine dining in Cape Town: Joseph at La Colombe, Pardon at Aubergine and Marlvin at the Cape Grace Hotel.

Master of Wine and Financial Times columnist, Jancis Robinson, initiated a crowdfunding campaign for the four somms to compete as Team Zimbabwe at the championships in France. Joseph led the team and has since launched his own label, Mosi. The Mosi Chenin ‘Tinashe’ Blanc can be found on the list at Culture Wine Bar.

If Chenin was South Africa’s workhorse of the white grapes, then Cinsault was certainly the workhorse of the reds. Prolific and resilient in parched conditions, for a period it was the most planted red grape in the country (leaving plenty of older vines to be rediscovered later). Its reasons for being were to lift and lighten the heavyweights in blends or to create easy drinking but unmemorable reds.

 This delicate, perfumed creature doesn’t suit wine lovers looking for robust structure and a strong backbone. For a long time that was the norm, so the variety wasn’t taken as seriously as others and 100-percent Cinsault wines were not at all common. As New Wave winemakers shifted focus to varieties not all that familiar to the local market, wine drinkers started taking an interest in the likes of Mourvèdre and Grenache, and it created the right context for a debut.

 The Mount Abora Saffraan was created with the intention of ‘making a complex Cinsault that could rival the elegant Pinot Noir wines of cooler climate regions’. Waterkloof winemaker Nadia Langenegger’s Seriously Cool Cinsault does come from cool slopes carrying older bush vines, and she goes so far as to suggest a cooler 14°C for serving, hence the name.

 Since visitors to South Africa generally come to enjoy blue skies and sunshine, it makes sense to seek out a lighter style of red – especially one that likes to be chilled – though that’s no reason to compromise on complexity or quality. Besides their commitment to organic and biological farming, Waterkloof’s wines  are regularly singled out as noteworthy South African examples.

 The name of Follow The Line Cinsault by Duncan Savage is a reference to the directions received from a farmer for one of the various vineyard blocks he works with to ‘follow the telephone line’. Duncan made his name at Cape Point Vineyards and is now based in an urban winery in Salt River. Savage Wines is a label to look out for, as is Rall. Donovan Rall, when adding three wines to his family of two (that includes a cornerstone Chenin-based white blend), he added Cinsault and Cinsaut Blanc – a rare creature for anywhere in the world.

Pinotage is the child of Cinsault. It originated in South Africa when in the ’20s a Professor Perold crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsault – presumably to bolster Pinot’s ability to thrive in the Cape, which Cinsault proved capable of. Initially there was a case of mistaken paternity because at the time of creation Cinsaut was thought to be Hermitage. The name, a blend of Pinot Noir and Hermitage, stuck.

 Some dismiss Pinotage as a point of reference for tourists, like the king protea – a wine to take home as souvenir. Others, like winemaker Beyers Truter, dedicated a career to the grape. Recognised in the ’80s and ’90s for his Kanonkop Pinotage, Truter went on to establish his own farm as flagbearer. His ubiquitous Beyerskloof Pinotage (labelled with signature red leaf denoting the variety) is like an old friend, while his top tier is the Diesel Pinotage: big, oaked, balanced.

 Kanonkop retains old-school prestige and interprets the grape as a fine wine for cellaring with the Black Label Pinotage, made from a single vineyard planted in 1953. Then there’s the ‘chocolate Pinotage’ genre popularised in the noughties, when Diemersfontein Pinotage caused a sensation and garnered a following with mocha flavours and smooth tannins. This launched a slew of imitators, which explains why the word ‘original’ now appears on the label.

 If the weighty, wooded style is at one end of the spectrum, at the other is the Scions of Sinai Atlantikas, which is pitched as a ‘”Farmer’s Rosé” style of Pinotage’ that never laid eyes on oak. Their well-received Féniks does see barrel but both the oak and the vines have the benefit of age – it’s made from Pinotage planted in 1976, a single vineyard with the closest proximity to the ocean. This means earlier picking and the possibility of fresher qualities in the wine.

What’s Interesting to note is that although Scions of Sinai is in Stellenbosch, as are Beyerskloof and Kanonkop (Diemersfontein is in Wellington), there’s the same ethos of making wine sans manipulation or new barrel as favoured by the Swartland Independents.

Pinotage has the potential for many different styles, but beyond a case of confused identity and an emphasis on cellar technique, what is the real face of Pinotage? Perhaps this is the question New Wave winemakers are asking as they strive for a lighter, fresher expression. Yet there is still room for nostalgia. The original vintage was the 1959 Lanzerac Pinotage and Lanzerac recently celebrated 60 years with their Commemorative Pinotage 2019.