Wines of South Africa

Wellington is nestled up against the mountains north of Paarl, and has long been known within the industry as a source of grapes and of vines as well – its home to the great majority of South Africa’s wine nurseries. But more and more it’s becoming a name that savvy winedrinkers are looking out for. Warm conditions and plenty of sunlight makes the area perfect for ripe and fruit-driven reds, generous Chenin Blancs, and more.

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Whether you're in Stellenbosch or Paarl, it's hard to miss the Simonsberg. The mountain divides the two wine districts, so vineyards dot the slopes on every side. While that makes for a lot of different aspects and varied growing conditions, there's still something that Simonsberg wines share in common.

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Wine tourism has always played an important role in the South African wine scene, and post-Covid wine fans are pouring back into the the country to explore what it has to offer. In this episode we look at both the varied and exciting possibilities that South Africa's winelands offer visitors and explore what tourism means to the wine industry as a whole.

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The Cape Winemakers Guild has become a leading force in raising the bar of South African wine, bringing together top winemakers from across the Western Cape to discuss and share ideas. It has also created a set of programs that engender new opportunities for wine industry members from Black and other previously-disadvantaged communities, most notably their Protege Programme. Their annual auction, which helps fund these activities, has become a highlight of the calendar in the South African winelands.

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In this episode we’ll be looking at one of the historic districts of the Winelands, Franschhoek. Its long history is reflected in its name, which means” French corner” and reflects the large number of French Huguenots who settled there in the 17th century. Today Franschhoek is one of the most visited spots in the Western Cape, home to a diverse array of wines including many great Chardonnays, Syrahs, Cap Classiques, and more.

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Robertson came to wine a bit later than some of the areas closer to Cape Town, but that's only because the mountains separating it from those more coastal spots made it hard for the valley's products to get to market. Vineyard planting got serious in the second half of the 1800s, and Robertson has definitely made up for lost time. With mountains on either side, the Breede River running through the middle, and some of South Africa's only limestone soils, it's a great place to make wine.

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South Africa's first varietal Shiraz only appeared in 1957, but the grape's popularity grew tremendously in the 1990s and today it's the second most planted red grape in South Africa, beaten only by Cabernet Sauvignon. and while Cabernet is largely focused on Stellenbosch and a few other areas, Shiraz - or Syrah - can be found the length and breadth of the Cape, producing a wide range of premium wines.

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For much of the twentieth century Cinsault was the most planted wine grape in South Africa. Starting in the 1960s its plantings began to decline, but today's new generation of winemakers are taking another look and discovering it's well-suited for the fresher, lighter-bodied styles of red wine so popular today.

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Pinot Noir only occupies about 1200 hectares of South Africa’s vineyards, but has produced a great many notable wines in the past several decades. In this episode we talk to winemakers who have embraced this fickle grape variety since the 1980s and built it into one of the most consistent, high-quality categories in South Africa.

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Traditionally most of South Africa's vineyards have been in the lower-lying areas of regions like Robertson, Stellenbosch, and Paarl. A few decades ago winegrowers began exploring cooler, maritime vineyards near the ocean, but even more recently they've begun exploring higher altitude areas for similar virtues. A few hundred meters of elevation can make a huge difference in growing conditions, and these areas are yielding some of South Africa's most distinctive wines.

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In 1998 the South African wine industry introduced the Integrated Production of Wine system, a sustainability program that now certifies more than 95% of the industry – including growers, cellars, and vineyards. In addition, forward-thinking producers have led the way into organic or biodynamic farming, invested in solar power, or found other innovative ways to allow the natural world around their vineyards to thrive.

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In this episode we look at the third-most planted white grape variety in South Africa. Sauvignon Blanc is incredibly popular with South African wine drinkers, leading the way over more likely candidates like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc. As a premium wine it's populated many of the more maritime vineyard regions along both the south and west coasts.

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In this episode we talk to three winery owners in Elgin, South Africa's coolest-climate wine growing area. Thanks to a surrounding ring of mountains and its proximity to the cold Atlantic Ocean it's home to some of the country's best Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and even Rieslings.

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In this episode we talk to three leading women winemakers, each working in different parts of the Western Cape stretching from the Swartland all the way down to the southernmost tip of Africa.

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This episode we visit the southernmost tip of Africa to check out the cool, windy vineyards of the Agulhas Triangle. This informal designation encompasses a number of pioneers, including the Sauvignon Blanc-focused producers of the Elim warm, David Trafford's project, Sijnn, and Bruce Jack's farm, The Drift, showing in microcosm the diversity of wines that just a small area of South Africa's wine lands can create.

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Named for a giant, round, granite outcropping that glistens like a Pearl, the town of Paarl was the third Dutch settlement in South Africa, after Cape Town and Stellenbosch. Its roots as a winegrowing area date to the 17th century, and today the large region is home to top-notch Chenin Blanc, Shiraz, and Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a wide range of other intriguing wines.

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South Africa's history of winemaking dates back over 360 years, and some of today's estates date back all the way to the 18th century. They're not resting on their laurels, though; in this episode, we look at some of South Africa's oldest wine estates and what they're doing now to stay at the forefront of the South African wine scene.

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Aside from the entrepreneurs behind the Black-owned brands we looked at in episode 10, there are some other ownership models as well. In this episode we look at three companies where the workers have become owners of their own wine brands, vineyards, and other land, giving dozens of families their own piece of the wine industry.

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In this episode we talk to the founder-owners of three leading Black-owned brands: Aslina, Tesselaarsdal, and Kumusha. As the South African wine industry struggles to redress imbalances stemming from the legacy of apartheid, producers like these are landmarks on the road forward.

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While Chardonnay doesn't have a long history in South Africa, it's become a leading variety, and one strongly associated with the estate wineries that emerged around the end of apartheid. Today plantings match those of Pinotage, and several important regions have emerged, each with their own character.

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In this episode, we look at a region that rose to fame centuries ago, a favorite of Napoleon, Louis XVI, and the Duke of Wellington: Constantia. Those famous sweet wines disappeared for almost a century, but today this small suburb of Cape Town is home to some of South Africa's leading Sauvignon Blancs, Bordeaux-style blends, and other wines...and yes, the sweet wines of the past have returned as well.

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In this episode we take a look not at a specific region or grape variety, but at grapevines - old vines, specifically. Some of South Africa's best wines come from vines aged 35, 50, or many decades older than that. Economic pressures were pushing many of these vineyards to be uprooted, but an exciting program, the Old Vine Project has been working to change that.

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The Hemel-en-Aarde is home to just 400 hectares - 1,000 acres - of vines, but it has a world-class reputation for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

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It's #DrinkChenin Day! We're marking the occasion by looking at South Africa's most-planted grape variety, which has long roots in the country, dating back to 1655. With 17,103 hectares planted, South Africa is home to more Chenin Blanc vines than the rest of the world combined, and it has increasingly become recognized as country's flagbearer variety.

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We look at Pinotage. The grape was developed in South Africa in the 1920s, and came to prominence as the face of South Africa wine after apartheid ended. But it's had a mixed reputation. We talk about its idiosyncratic character and how today's winemakers are making top wines from this much-maligned grape.

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It's South Africa's most planted red grape variety, and it's found a special home at the center of the country's wine industry

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In this episode, we take a look at the Swartland. Winemaking is not new to the area, but even twenty-five years ago it was largely overlooked. Today, Swartland wines include some of South Africa's most-coveted bottlings, gracing the lists of the world's best restaurants.

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Welcome to the debut episode of the Wines of South Africa podcast. We start off the way all good meals start, with bubbly. Join us for a dive into Methode Cap Classique, South Africa's sparkling wine and the fastest growing category on the South African wine scene.

You can learn more about the wines and people featured in this podcast by going to our website, wosa.us, and clicking on the podcast tab.

The WOSA podcast is hosted by WOSA's U.S. Marketing Manager, Jim Clarke.

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