South Africa 2021

The 2021 Secateurs Chenin is the best example we've tried. Loads of fresh, crunchy apple fruit and a lovely lick of spice, with a hint of oatmeal make this an awful lot of wine for the price. And if you forget a few bottles in the back of the cellar, you might just be surprised.,

54% Chenin Blanc, 14% Semillon, 13% Roussanne, 9% Viognier, 6% Grenache Blanc and 4% Palomino. This is just so good. Floral on the nose, there’s notes of marzipan and sea spray, and then stem ginger and plenty of grippy texture on the palate. Our favourite SA white blend, surely.

1,500 bottles of this ageworthy Chenin produced, which is the flintiest, most focussed of Adi's wines. The vines were planted in 1966, and yields are pitiful. The concentration and drive here is remarkable.

1,500 bottles of this ageworthy Chenin produced, which is the flintiest, most focussed of Adi's wines. The vines were planted in 1966, and yields are pitiful. The concentration and drive here is remarkable.

Planted at the same time as the Klipkop, next to the cellar (Kelder in Afrikaans), just 1,400litres of juice came from 1.2hectares: yields are astonishingly small here. It's a little more overtly fruited, with hints of yellow fruit, but still incredible focus on the saline finish. Brilliant.

Planted at the same time as the Klipkop, next to the cellar (Kelder in Afrikaans), just 1,400litres of juice came from 1.2hectares: yields are astonishingly small here. It's a little more overtly fruited, with hints of yellow fruit, but still incredible focus on the saline finish. Brilliant.

From a vineyard right on the coast, some 150km from the estate, this is the best straight Palomino we know. From anywhere. So saline and structured, there's hints of lemon oil and a minty lift, too. This is outstanding.

A unique wine in our South Africa offer, this is mainly Roussanne, with a drop of Chardonnay. It's all about texture and bright fruit. Roussanne can be a little heavy, but there's none of that here: it's savoury and frest, with just a hint of herbal lift.

The Full Moon White is a field blend from a single vineyard on the Swartland’s Uitkyk farm, a farm where plenty of others source grapes. Just a handful of bottles are made of this blend of Chenin, Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Chardonnay, from a 45 year old vineyard. Lovely weight on the palate, and plenty of energy. Delicious.

Luuks means luxury in Afrikaans, and this was the first wine with which Pieter had ever used new oak. It's a real delight: lots of spicy notes from that oak, but it's retained the texture and focus we love in Pieter's wines.

The 2020 Empire Strikes Back is a blend of Verdelho, Marsanne, Viognier, Roussanne, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc, and is fragrant, textured, and impressively long. There’s a ripeness to the fruit here, but it’s not overblown: rather, it’s all about layers of flavour and precision on the saline finish. It’s a brilliant South African white: one to discover.

A blend of 32% Chardonnay, 25% Roussanne, 13% Chenin Blanc, 13% Verdelho, 5% Muscat, this is the first vintage this has been predominantly Chardonnay. This is so complex and delicious, and gets better and better every year. A brilliant wine from a wonderful producer.

Due to a delay in bottles arriving, this spent 18 months on the lees, rather than the planned 16. Just two thirds of a normal harvest this year, and this is the most expensive per bottle wine they’ve ever made, due to the tiny yields and the careful selection that went into the wine. The result is stunning, with incredible concentration and power. Fruit that would normally go into Broom Ridge and Huilkruins went in here.

All the fruit for this comes from upper part of the vineyard, and is the result of three separate picks. This is lower in alcohol than usual, and has loads of yellow and greengage fruit, and lots of saline tension. Just so alluring: brilliant.

Chris comments that the 2020 Magnetic North had the most perfect grapes he’d ever seen. It’s from a 550m high vineyard, 30km from the coast, on red soils, with just 1.3 tons picked this year. This is stunning, and totally unique. It’s so savoury and herbal, with incredible focus and a finish that lasts for minutes. Stunning.

From young wines on Chris’ own farm, from Oudam and Arbeitsend farms on the Skurfberg, and from Piekenierskloof. All dry farmed Chenin, this is so complex and fragrant, with plenty of up front fruit and a long and fine finish. Brilliant: a fine debut.

Chris had to change the name of the old La Colline Semillon due to a legal challenge. This comes from vines that were planted as far back as 1937. It’s got spearmint lift and loads of energy. There’s a hint of orange skin, too. Very complex, and going to be incredibly long lived.

The latest addition to the range, from a warmer site that was once Sauvignon Blanc, but that since 2017 has been top grafted. This has lovely breadth and texture, and there’s definitely a slight iodine character, as well as white peach fruit, and a hint of stem ginger.

The Agnes Chardonnay honours Peter-Allan’s grandmother, who arrived in South Africa at the age of 14, and is a blend of different vineyards, from across the Cape. This year it includes a little fruit from the high altitude Ceres plateau for the first time, and there’s just a little more precision this year, maybe from that fruit. It gets better and better: a bargain.

A spectacular wine that won’t last long, from a Ridge vineyard that used to be Cabernet Franc, but was grafted in 2014. It’s so Burgundian, with lemon oil, leesy complexity, and incredible savoury length. Brilliant.

From seven different vineyards, planted on different soils, with planting dates ranging from 1968 to 1985. This is the best yet: suave and silky, with just enough palate weight and a lovely thread of acidity.

The Hoë Steen, literally high Chenin Blanc, comes from tall bush vines (hence the name) planted in 1968 on iron rich soils some 40km to the west. South facing it ripens late, and there’s a bed of limestone, virtually unheard of in the Swartland, that brings nervy acidity alongside the wine’s creamy texture. There’s a lovely peachy core here, and a long and saline finish. Brilliant.

The first single vineyard they made was the Skaliekop, from a vineyard planted in 1985 on the Paardebosch farm. This vineyard is an anomaly: an island of schist on the normally granite Paardeberg. Indeed, the name means hill of Shale, and this gives a mineral, reserved character to the wine. This has notes of fennel and lime blossom, and the potential here is outstanding.

From seven different vineyards, planted on different soils, with planting dates ranging from 1968 to 1985. This is the best yet: suave and silky, with just enough palate weight and a lovely thread of acidity.