South Africa: New releases

This is a blend of 50% Chenin Blanc with 50% Palomino It comes from a rare thing in South Africa: a vineyard planted on pure limestone, just 2km from the ocean, planted between 1958 and 1967.

The white equivalent of Columella is Palladius: the Swartland white. It’s a blend of all eleven official Swartland white varieties, and comes from seventeen different vineyards across the region, mainly on the Paardeberg, but with vineyards by the coast in St Helena Bay, and on the Piketberg.

Made from parcels of Chenin Blanc Bush vines on the decomposed sandy soils of the Skurfberg, the wine that takes this mountain’s name comes from plots that were planted between 1940 and 1955.

The Kokerboom vineyard is some four and a half hours north of the winery, making picking it a real logistical challenge. It’s a Semillon (known as green grape in Afrikaans) plot, planted in the 1930s, and is a mix of both the green (green green grape) and red (red green grape) mutations of the variety.

The Mev Kirsten is the oldest vineyard of Chenin Blanc in the Cape. Found in the Jonkershoek Valley of Stellenbosch, much of the plot was planted in the 1920s, and takes its name from the owner, Mrs Kirsten.

The white equivalent of Columella is Palladius: the Swartland white. It’s a blend of all eleven official Swartland white varieties, and comes from seventeen different vineyards across the region, mainly on the Paardeberg, but with vineyards by the coast in St Helena Bay, and on the Piketberg.