CAPE CRUSADERS

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has become one of the most dynamic, exciting countries in the world for wine lovers. And while wine has been produced there since the 17th century – Jan van Riebeeck planted grapevines in 1655 – it’s only in recent decades that the industry has fully burst onto the world scene.

For a long time, the wines of South Africa were more or less synonymous with Stellenbosch, the country’s most famous region, around an hour’s drive east of Cape Town. It makes sense: many of the most well-known producers have a presence there, and the wines serve as a calling card of sorts around the world. Today, though, any full accounting of the country’s vibrant wine industry has to have a far broader focus.

“New regions are getting well-deserved attention; check out Lowerland Wines from Prieska and organic wines farmed in the Northern Cape,” notes Stephanie Wiid, winemaker and co-founder of Thistle & Weed in Paarl, in the Cape Winelands.

Duncan Savage, of Savage Wines, agrees. “There are many incredible sites coming to the fore, such as Ceres, Piekenierskloof, and areas of the Cape South Coast. Swartland has become so well established, but I do believe Stellenbosch is king. There is a reason the place is famous: the approach of producers in Stellenbosch at the moment, the drive to have the right varieties on the right sites, the efforts to control leafroll virus,” he explains. “We are seeing people move away from the ‘one-stop wine shop’ type producers and beginning to focus. The Helderberg for Cab Sauvignon and Franc, the Polkadraai for Syrah… It’s a very exciting time.”

The focus these days isn’t just on fully expressing the potential of individual terroirs, but also on finding the perfect grape varieties with which to do so. “Chenin Blanc has carved a real niche for itself in South Africa,” he points out. “The wines are incredible from this versatile variety. Cinsault has also done well due to all the old vine plantings, along with a lot more focus on varieties like Grenache.

“Cabernet Franc is performing particularly well on the north-facing slopes around Stellenbosch. The classic varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc continue to do well, but site selection is becoming very good with the top producers. Many interesting plantings of Assyrtiko, Counoise, Alicante Bouschet, Grillo, etc. are new to South Africa and could unlock incredible potential in the future. There is a real camaraderie amongst producers, a real desire to take South African wine to the next level.”

NEW ERA

It’s already happening. The wines that Savage and Wiid are producing are wildly exciting, as are the ones from Bruwer Raats, a well-known star in the country’s wine world. He, too, has seen attention shift to expressing specific terroirs, which in turn have allowed the wines’ styles to change. “We have learned which varieties work best in certain regions,” he explains, “and in terms of wine style to make wines that are lower in alcohol, with more elegant tannin structure, and that offer greater freshness.” This, he says, “is what will define the next decade.”

He adds: “The challenge is to establish regional identity within the ward status of each district. In other words, if you look at Stellenbosch’s districts, we have to create an identity for Polkadraai Hills and other wards within the district, much like the French Left Bank, with Margaux, Saint-Julien, etc. Polkadraai Hills must be presented as a unique appellation, showing what makes it different.”

As more wines from these individual wards make their way into the world’s wine markets, those distinctions promise to become more clear. “With our small, oversupplied, price-sensitive, and highly competitive local market, higher-end producers are spending a lot more time and money on building exports,” notes Anthony Hamilton Russell, proprietor of Hamilton Russell Vineyards. “There is an overall aesthetic trend towards more restraint and classic styling. Younger, more traveled, and fine-wine-attuned winemakers are setting the country’s stylistic direction. Sadly, the volumes of the best of our wines are still too small to meaningfully impact international consumer perceptions. The wine writers, critics, and trade have, however, been excited.”

That promises to be the case with consumers, too. “Our wines are increasingly more restrained and classically styled,” he adds. “They are being made with more sensitivity to regional styles and the nature of the sites and soils. The top end of the industry, although highly fragmented and small in terms of volume, is increasingly setting our national tone… The next decade will hopefully entrench the aesthetic and quality benefits of the currently prevailing trends in the minds of wine consumers, not just the trade.”

If you taste a selection of top wines from South Africa today, those trends come through with clarity, detail, and serious deliciousness.