THE WINES OF SOUTH AFRICA PODCAST

Bring on the bubbly!

South Africa was the first New World country to create a designation for traditional method sparkling wines that didn’t ride on the coattails of Champagne. Today “Methode Cap Classique” is the fastest growing wine category in the country.

Listen to Episode One here

Related links:

Cap Classique Producers Association

Wines:                    Graham Beck                          Simonsig                    Colmant

Maps:                     Robertson                                Stellenbosch             Franschhoek

TexSom

United Sommeliers Foundation

Explore further:

Traditional Method Sparkling Wine 

“Het Zwarte Land!”

In the past couple of decades, this large, warm region north of Paarl has become home to some of South Africa’s most dynamic young winemakers.

Listen to Episode Two Here

Related Links:

Wines:          Spice Route            Mullineux & Leeu Family            Intellego

Maps:           Swartland

Swartland Independent Producers

The Modern

No Ceilings

United Sommelier Foundation

It’s South Africa’s most planted red grape variety, and it’s found a special home in the center of the winelands. Stellenbosch Cabernet has become one of South Africa’s standout combinations of grape and terroir.

Listen to Episode Three Here

Related Links:        Edgebaston        Le Riche       Thelema Mountain Vineyards

Maps:         Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective

River Oaks Country Club

Pinotage was developed in Stellenbosch in the 1920s and has become a prominent part of the South Africa wine scene…but it’s long been a love-it-or-hate it grape with winemakers and winedrinkers alike. Today’s producers have it figured out; this episode looks at the story of Pinotage, the challenges it presents winemakers, and why today’s wines show off the grape’s best qualities.

Listen to Episode Four Here

Related Links:

Kanonkop        Painted Wolf        Southern Right       Ashbourne

Maps:

Stellenbosch        Paarl        Swartland        Walker Bay        Breedekloof

Pinotage Association

Burghundy

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.

Listen to Episode Five here

Related Links:

Ken Forrester         Alheit Vineyards         Beaumont

Maps:

Stellenbosch        Swartland        Walker Bay

Chenin Blanc Association

Barclay Prime

The name means “heaven and earth,” and while the narrow valley is relatively new to vineyards, in the past four decades it’s earned a reputation as the home of many of South Africa’s best Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays.

Listen to Episode Six here

Related links:

Hamilton Russell Vineyards         Creation          Storm Wines

Maps:

Walker Bay

Hermanus

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.

Listen to Episode Seven here

Related links:

The Old Vine Project

Boekenhoutskloof

David & Nadia

SOMLYAY

Maps:

Franschhoek

Swartland

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.

Listen to Episode 8 here

Related Links:

Klein Constantia         Groot Constantia         Eagles Nest

Steenberg         Constantia Glen

Bar Covell        Somm TV

Maps:

Constantia/Cape Town

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.

Listen to Episode 9 here

Related Links:

Capensis         Richard Kershaw Wines         De Wetshof

Leeu Passant        Glenelly

Morgan Harris

Maps:

Stellenbosch         Elgin         Robertson         Klein Karoo

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.

Listen to episode 10 episode here

Related Links:

Aslina          Kumusha          Tesselaarsdal

Importers:

Wine4theWorld (Aslina)          Baobab Wines (Kumusha)        Vineyard Brands (Tesselaarsdal)

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 models where the workers have become owners of their own wine brands, vineyards, and other land, giving dozens of families a stake in the wine industry.

Listen to Episode 11 here

Related Links:

Fairvalley          Bosman Family Vineyards          Compagniesdrift

Importers:

Banks Channel USA (Fairvalley)         Wine For The World  (Bosman)

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.

Listen to episode 12 here

Related Links:

Rustenberg          Boschendal          Vergelegen

Maps:

Stellenbosch         Elgin

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.

Listen to the Episode Here

Related Links:

Joostenberg          MAN Vintners          Noble Hill          Ridgeback

Maps:

Paarl

This episode we visit the southernmost tip of Africa to check out the cool, windy vineyards of the Agulhas Wine 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.

Listen to the episode here

Related Links:

The Agulhas Wine Triangle          The Drift          Sijnn          Strandveld

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.

Listen to Episode 15 here

Related links:

Hogan          Lismore          Trizanne Signature Wines

Maps:

Swartland          Stellenbosch          Cape South Coast          Elim

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.

Listen to Episode 16 here

Related Links:

Paul Cluver          Iona          Catherine Marshall Wines          Sutherland          Spioenkop

Maps:

Elgin

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.

Listen to Episode 17 here

Related links:

Neil Ellis          Shannon Vineyards (Downes Family)          De Grendel

Klein Constantia          Vergelegen          Paul Cluver

Maps:

Cape Town/Durbanville          Darling          Elgin

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.

Listen to Episode 18 here

Related links:

Reyneke          Spier          Backsberg         Graham Beck

Integrated Production of Wine          Conservation Champions

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.

Listen to Episode 19 here

Featured Wineries:

Cederberg          Anthonij Rupert         Savage Wines          De Grendel

Maps:

Piekenierskloof & Cederberg          Elandskloof

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.

Listen to Episode 20 here

Related Links:

Bouchard Finlayson          Crystallum          Boekenhoutskloof/Cap Maritime

Maps:

Walker Bay (Hemel-en-Aarde)          Overberg (inc. Elandskloof)          Franschhoek

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.

Listen to Episode 21 here

Related Links:

Natte Valleij         Donovan Rall          Craven Wines

Will Predhomme 

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.

Listen to the episode here

Related links:

Hartenberg          Luddite          Mullineux          Trizanne Signature Wines

Maps:

Stellenbosch          Walker Bay          Swartland          Cape Agulhas

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.

Listen to episode 23 here

Related links:

Robertson Winery         Excelsior          Springfield

Maps:

Robertson

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.

Listen to episode 24 here

Related Links:

Black Elephant Vintners          Chamonix          Topiary

A Map of Franschhoek

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.

Listen to Episode 25 here

Related Links:

Cape Winemakers Guild

Newton Johnson          Hartenberg          Mullineux Family          Stark-Condé

Great Heart          Kara Tara

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.

Listen to Episode 26 here

Related Links:

Visit the Winelands         Stellenbosch Wine Route         Babylonstoren          The Wine Arc

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.

Listen to the episode here

Related Links:

Babylonstoren          Warwick          Glenelly

Maps:

Stellenbosch         Paarl

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.

Listen to the episode here

Links to the producers:

Bosman          Diemersfontein         Mischa

Map of Wellington