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.

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.

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.

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.

49% Chenin Blanc, 10% Roussanne, 9% Semillon, 8% Marsanne, 7% Clairette Blanche, 6% Viognier, 5% Verdelho, 4% Grenache Blanc and, for the first time, 2% Colombard . This is a stunning blend, with lovely weight, floral lift, and a mouthwatering finish. Very nice indeed.

The latest addition to the range is the Plat’bos, and this is just the third vintage released. This is a 1981 planted vineyard on decomposed granite, right nextdoor to Skaliekop. North facing, it’s the warmest site, and produces a spicy, ageworthy Chenin Blanc. The 2020 has remarkable yellow fruit, and a long, savoury, delicious finish. Bravo.

From five sites in the Swartland, this might just be the best pick in the entire range. It’s a wine that works on different levels: it’s easy drinking and very approachable, with pure fruit and mouth watering freshness. But there’s also a complexity and purity here that marks out the Cape’s very best Chenin Blancs.

As the name might suggest, this from Elgin and Botrivier fruit was all fermented and then left in amphorae. It’s nicely textured, with grapefruit purity, and loads of salinity on the palate. A really delicious Sauvignon Blanc.

Semillon from a 40 year old vineyard in Franschhoek and a younger vineyard in the Swartland, blended with just 15% of Sauvignon Blanc from the farm craft a wine that’s textured and ample, with an amazing mouthfeel. Notes of lime and jasmine complete the picture on this really charming, savoury wine.

This comes from the legendary Skurfberg, from the Oudam farm. At this stage it's very tightly wound, with notes of thyme and fynbos, and incredible drive. Give this a couple of years, and it will be brilliant.

From the Oudam farm on the Skurfberg, this is perhaps the biggest bargain there is from this legendary mountainside far up the wild west coast. Notes of pink grapefruit and blood orange on the nose, and there's plenty of Chenin texture here, too. Bright, piercing acidity completes the picture on this ageworthy Chenin.

The 2020 Chardonnay from Hamilton Russell shows lovely freshness and purity, with excellent definition of fruit. It continues the estate's march towards more elegant, refined wines, and is one of the most enjoyable examples we've tried. Understandably, winemaker Emul is absolutely thrilled.

The Chi Riesling is from the cool region of Elgin, and reflects Jessica’s love for all things Mosel. Indeed, the soils here, at 300m of altitude and 10km from the ocean, are red slate, just like the hillsides above Urzig. It’s slightly off-dry (although in German classifications it would be classed as dry), and is a pure, savoury Riesling that’s simply delicious. Chi means ‘life force’, reflecting the energy Jessica seeks in her Riesling, and also refers to Chiuta, the African rain god: Elgin is the wettest part of the Cape. This ages brilliantly.

Made by pinching the tops of the bunches, concentrating the sugars, and acidity, in the grapes, this is a really lovely sweet wine from Alex Starey. Green pineapple, ginger, and a hint of lemongrass create a very refreshing but intensely sweet wine. This is a blend of vintages, hence (for the one and only time) it's a N/V wine.

A small parcel of this, the single vineyard Chenin Blanc from the outstanding 2017 vintage, has been made available to us. It was planted in 1971, and this is in such a lovely place right now. Textured, lifted, and incredibly fine-boned, this is a stunning Chenin Blanc.

A blend of three different blocks on the Klein Constantia hillside, the 2020 Clara is drop-dead gorgeous. Delicate and floral on the nose, with notes of oyster shell, lime blossom, and sea spray, and plenty of fresh ginger too, this is complex and delicious already. There’s the structure here to age beautifully too. Everyone should secure a case of this, if they can.

Taking it's name from the horses that used to work this plot, the Perdeblokke is a real beauty in 2020. There's such energy here, alongside the opulence we've come to expect from this warm site. Sweet and sour in character, this will convert even the most anti-Sauvignon wine lover.

Just a few hundred bottles of this single block are produced: for Matt, it's a play thing, something that informs the rest of his winemaking. Notes of ginger and fresh grapefruits swirl from the glass of this wine, that's all about texture and purity. South Africa's best Sauvignon Blanc?

Block 382 is a single vineyard at the top of the Klein Constantia hillside, and the 2020 is intense and pure and remarkably textured. Just a few hundred bottles are produced this: we're thrilled to be able to offer it in the UK.

This is a wine that gets better and better, no doubt thanks to Matt's experimenting with the single vineyard wines. This is the best iteration we've tried, and is up there with the best Sauvignon Blancs we've tried, from anywhere. At this price, not to be missed.

The 2018 is a spectacular Vin de Constance. A wine that shows notes of fresh apricot, wild flowers, and just a hint of wild honey, the finish here is somehow savoury, keeping everything in check. There’s notes of white peach and grapefruit zing, and then spice fills the palate, too. It’s an astonishingly complex wine, that is somehow intellectual and delicious at the same time.

The 2018 is a spectacular Vin de Constance. A wine that shows notes of fresh apricot, wild flowers, and just a hint of wild honey, the finish here is somehow savoury, keeping everything in check. There’s notes of white peach and grapefruit zing, and then spice fills the palate, too. It’s an astonishingly complex wine, that is somehow intellectual and delicious at the same time.

The 2016 Kaaimansgat Blanc de Blancs Cap Classique from Krone is a stunning fizz that puts many Champagnes at double the price to shame. Notes of apple and a hint of fresh ginger on the nose, as well as citrus peel, there’s a focussed palate with just the right amount of richness. This is utterly delicious and long. It’s well worth discovering.

The 2018 Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc comes from a blend of fruit from the Lismore vineyards, and also from a vineyard overlooking Walker Bay. Creamy, with notes of nettle and manuka honey, and a lovely lifted grapefruit finish. This is textured and poised, with a persistent finish. Really rather lovely.

The 2020 Phoenix Chenin Blanc comes from a single old vine, organically-farmed vineyard in Paarl, planted with bush Chenin Blanc vines. 70% was vinified in tank, with 30% in barrel (the barrel component was aged at Radford Dale while Sam’s cellar was rebuilt, and hence the wine isn’t labelled organic - Radford Dale isn’t organic). The wine is brilliant. Focussed and textured, with real vibrant energy and an incredibly long finish, it’s not to be missed. 

Sam is probably South Africa’s best Viognier producer. This shows why. Bot River, Elgin, Stellenbosch and Sutherland fruit makes up the blend, and the wine is peachy, with pear skin complexity and stem ginger, too. Lovely.

30% Greyton fruit, with the rest donated after the fire, this is complex and savoury, with plenty of grapefruit, and then spice from the oak. Really lovely, but needs a little time in bottle.

The Chardonnay blocks survived the fire, so this is all Greyton fruit. It’s so complex, with notes of nectarine, toast, and then a floral element comes in too. It’s so good to see Sam so quickly back on form. Don’t miss this.