When I first went to South Africa in 2008 for the Cape Wine convention, I knew next to nothing about South African wine. I attempted to remedy this fact by spending as many hours as possible tasting as many wines as possible at the multi-day trade fair, which was (still to this day) one of the best-designed and organized wine fairs I’ve ever attended.

As I made my way through the vast halls of the convention center, I tasted several hundred wines from producers big and small, most of which were decent, some of which were good, and a few of which were excellent.

But there was one stand I blindly arrived at, where the wine rocked me back on my feet. In this proverbial pull-the-needle-off-the-record moment, I caught a glimpse of South African wine’s future and experienced my first taste of what would become a movement known as the Swartland Revolution.

This movement has since changed the face of the South African wine industry, but back then, it was basically just one guy who decided to make wine from the old vines near where he grew up in Swartland.

The Rediscovery of Swartland

Eben Sadie (pronounced “sah-dee”) got his start in winemaking in the late 1990s, working at various producers in Europe before signing on in 1998 as the winemaker at Spice Route, a wine label owned by Charles Back. Sadie made an immediate impact on the wines, but also just as quickly realized that his path lay elsewhere.

“Spice Route was fine, but I truly wanted to be involved with the development of a system to produce a magnificent, world-class wine—something iconic,” says Sadie, “and I didn’t think I was going to be able to do that there.”

Since 1997, even before he signed on to the Swartland-focused Spice Route, Sadie had been spending his evenings and weekends working in a few old vineyards he found in the Swartland, getting them ready for making a wine that he believed better demonstrated what was possible in South Africa.

By 2000 he judged the vineyards were ready, and Sadie produced the first vintage of a Syrah-based blend he called Columella. A few months later he departed Spice Route to focus on The Sadie Family Wines (along with a short-lived second label Sequillo Cellars and several different wines he was making with partners in the Priorat region of Spain).

Sadie’s approach to his wines, which he has honed in the two and a half decades since included what he refers to as “OCD-level” farming; picking for natural acidity and moderate alcohol levels; native yeast fermentations; some use of whole clusters; and mostly neutral wood and concrete for vinification and aging; all done with an exacting eye towards ensuring pristine fruit makes its way to the bottle with a minimum of handling and an obsessive level of hygiene.

When Sadie decided to return to his roots in the Swartland, the area had already seen a long history of winegrowing and winemaking. Vines had been planted in the region as far back as the mid-1800s. After World War Two, three large cooperative wineries sprang up to produce large amounts of inexpensive wines for domestic and international consumption.

Using a broad base of well-established plantings, these co-ops initially thrived. But then in 1948, Apartheid began, and like much of the country, these cooperative wineries didn’t fare well, especially once international sanctions were imposed in the Sixties. By 1994, when Apartheid ended, they were barely hanging on. Only one, the Riebeek Valley Wine Co. remains in existence today.

But the true legacy of these co-ops may be one big happy accident. The hundreds of growers used to selling their wines to the co-ops weren’t in a financial position to do anything different during the sanction years of Apartheid. They couldn’t even afford to rip out their vines and put in a more lucrative crop, leaving Swartland to be a treasure trove of remarkable old-vine vineyards.

“I always tell these youngsters that they should stop badmouthing the really large producers,” says Sadie. “The foundational work on this place was built by other people. We can feel like we’ve done a lot of work on the place, but there were a couple generations before us who made [Swartland] into something.”

Ancient Dark Land

As a wine region, Swartland is massive. Encompassing 440,000 hectares of land, it is South Africa’s largest wine region by far. By way of comparison, that’s an area slightly smaller than the state of Delaware and about four times larger than the entirety of the greater Bordeaux wine region. In that vast area, however, only about 16,000 hectares of vines are grown, amidst large swaths of open ranch land, wheat fields, and seemingly barren scrub.

Despite being coastal, with exposure to the Atlantic on its lengthy western edge, the Swartland is incredibly dry, with the driest bits somewhat counterintuitively closest to the ocean. Only an average of 100mm of rain falls each year in the western reaches of the region, and only 400mm on average in the east, where winds smack up against the three primary mountain ranges in the area and unload what little moisture they’ve gathered from their run across the land. Consequently, most of the vineyards can be found in the foothills of these ranges, where erosion and faults have gradually decomposed the region’s stony heart.

The landscape is stark and scraggly, covered in a dizzying array (quite literally hundreds of species) of small scrubby plants and bushes, including Renosterbos, or “Rhinoceros Bush” whose dark seasonal colors led to the region’s name, which translates in Afrikaans as “the black land.”

These hundreds of plant species, many of which are beautifully aromatic and flowering, are collectively known as the fynbos, or “fine bush,” and form the foundation of the Cape Floral Kingdom, one of the most biodiverse plant ecosystems in the world. It hosts roughly 9,000 separate species of which 70% are found nowhere else on earth.

Along with the vineyards they surround and seem to subtly scent, these aromatic plants sink their roots into some of the oldest soils on the planet. The youngest of these soils (not counting the alluvial soils that millennia of later erosion have created) are roughly 400 million years old, with some of the decomposed granite dating to 500 million years ago, and the Malmsbury shales and associated schists dating to as far back as 700 million years ago.

Staging The Swartland Revolution

When Eben Sadie returned home to make his first wine at the age of 28, other than the large cooperative wineries, only a handful of independent producers were making wines from the Swartland region, and most of those were located elsewhere in South Africa.

In retrospect we can now say that Sadie’s introductory vintage of Columella in 2000 was a revelation, the overnight transformation of a wine region from nearly forgotten to demonstrably world-class terroir. But at the time, Sadie says, no one really noticed.

“My first few vintages in South Africa, there was no reaction and no buying,” says Sadie. “Nationally it was like a dead horse from the outset.” This was despite Columella getting the highest rating possible from the venerable Platter’s Wine Guide in its second vintage.

“The wines were alien to the nation in every respect,” says Sadie, who deliberately priced the wine three times higher than the current most expensive wine in South Africa. “It was really the wine writers in the UK, Germany, and Scandinavia that built the wines from inception.”

Even if the local and much of the international wine-buying public was oblivious, some of Sadie’s colleagues in South Africa were paying close attention.

Chris and Andrea Mullineux began their eponymous wine brand in 2007, after having worked at wineries in France, California, and South Africa, where Chris grew up.

“Why Swartland?” laughs Andrea, “Well it was one of the few places at the time that two people in their twenties without any family money or history of winegrowing could afford to start a winery. We had the opportunity to start off leasing amazing old-vine vineyards.”

But there was also a Sadie connection. “Did you know that the very first e-mails that Chris and Eben ever sent or received were to each other?” says Mullineux. The two knew each other from school and had bonded over their love of the great wines of the world.

When Sadie began his operation in Swartland, Andrea and Chris would come down to visit with regularity. “He definitely pulled us in,” says Mullineux. “He’d drive us around and show us vineyards. The Roundstone vineyard that we own now is one that Eben showed us on one of those trips.”

Hein and Adi Badenhorst started their AA Badenhorst Family Wines label in 2008, after more than a decade of making wine in South Africa, with stints abroad in Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley.

“I knew Adi had been looking to move on from his current job, and when I saw a neighboring farm go up for sale, I told him it was time for him to move to the Swartland,” recalls Sadie. “Then I called up the owner and told him, ‘You can’t sell to anyone but Adi Badenhorst.'”

Marc Kent made his name as a winemaker for and part owner of Boekenhoutskloof in the Franschhoek Valley, in particular by championing Syrah as a variety. As he looked for other sources of what was quickly becoming his favorite grape, Sadie told him that if he wanted Syrah, the best Syrah in South Africa could be found in Swartland. Kent went on in 2009 to purchase the Porsleinberg wine farm in the Swartland after learning it was one of the places Sadie had been sourcing fruit from for several years. To run that project as a relatively separate entity, Kent hired winemaker Callie Louw.

With Sadie as a friend, advisor, or acquaintance, these three wine producers became convinced that the Swartland region’s combination of schist and granite soils, old vine material, and climate represented something profound and different when it came to South African wine.

And Sadie finally got himself some like-minded neighbors.

Sadie, the Mullineuxes, Kent, and Louw found themselves hanging out a lot, talking shop, and exploring how to fight what seemed to be Swartland’s very stubborn and immovable reputation for producing commercial plonk.

One day in 2009, someone in the group came up with the idea of holding a tasting of their wines where they could invite a wide swath of the South African wine industry to see what was new in the Swartland.

“So we bought out this small restaurant, and set up five or six tables to do a tasting,” recalls Mullineux. “And we invited all the trade in the Western Cape. Literally I think we might have invited more than one hundred people. And only one came.”

“We were literally standing there looking at each other like, ‘How is it that we’re getting such good press internationally, and we can’t get more than one single person from South Africa to show up at a tasting?'”

The next spring, that same group was invited to give a seminar on South African wines at the annual Hospice du Rhone celebration in Paso Robles, California. The Sunday morning after a long night of drinking, they found themselves hanging around over a leisurely breakfast, talking about how inspiring and energetic the event had been.

“We had just had this wonderful weekend, filled with spirit and energy, and we started talking about how we’d like to do something similar back home,” recalls Sadie.

Later that year they would launch a tasting called The Swartland Revolution to showcase their wines and the wines of a few other small independent producers in Swartland. They adopted a Che-Guevara-style red star as their logo.

Taking a cue from what they had learned in California, they flew in Rhône producer Stefan Ogier from Domaine Michel & Stéphane Ogier, who finally proved enough of a draw to get an excellent turnout from the South African trade.

The tasting was a great success and went on to have five more iterations before the concept was retired. But the real revolution was what happened before that first tasting, and in the five years after its launch.

Connections, Community, and Constellations

A few years after its launch, Sadie Family Wines quickly became a breeding ground for small independent wine projects, as people who worked with Sadie would go on (with his encouragement) to start their own small brands, most of them focused on making use of the region’s wealth of old vines that no longer had ready buyers in a post-co-op era.

In 2010 Sadie launched his Die Ouwingerdreeks wines, made from some of South Africa’s oldest vineyards, and for the first time, the local wine industry really started to take notice.

Sadie began to get winemakers both literally and figuratively knocking on his door, wondering what he was up to, and how he was doing what he was doing.

“You know, you go to some places in Europe, and people are literally neighbors and they don’t speak to each other, right?” says Sadie. “It’s horrible. I’ve spent a lot of my time just trying to be the glue here, I think it’s pivotal. We need to stay in continuous contact, in dialogue, and never let the narrative go.”

So people came knocking looking to learn how Sadie was making such spectacular wines, and even though he won’t come right out and describe it this way, he basically opened his door, invited them in, and showed them what he was doing.

“I’m pretty much a straight shooter,” says Sadie. “I’m not a bullshitter, and I’ve always tried to be completely transparent. I think it’s fair to say I have a huge amount of respect from my peers, and I’ve always tried to weigh in a lot and help. My pledge is that everyone who participates here [in the Swartland] makes it. One star can’t make a constellation.”

The Quantum Leap

It’s hard to understate my sense of the impact that Sadie has had not only in the Swartland but across the South African wine industry as a whole.

The best analog I can provide is the concept of leapfrogging in the realm of economic and technological development. One of the earliest recognized instances of leapfrogging was the adoption of mobile telephony by much of the developing world.

In most developed nations, the communication revolution progressed smoothly from telegraph to land-line telephone networks, and then to mobile phones. Each stage required widespread infrastructure buildout throughout Western society, followed by gradual adoption.

In India, however, hundreds of millions of people were using their first mobile phone before they had electricity in their homes.

Likewise, as an observer of the evolution that many emerging (or lately re-emerging) global winegrowing regions undergo, I recognize a common pattern of progression. Winemakers in these regions often model their earliest efforts on Bordeaux (and to a lesser extent, Burgundy). They plant Cabernet, Merlot, and Chardonnay. They buy, new expensive French barrels. They aim for rich, ripe wines made with standard commercial techniques (and yeasts and additives) that spend a long time in their expensive new oak.

Eventually, these regions realize that maybe they don’t have to have 200% new oak on every wine, that it is possible to have great flavor under 14% alcohol, and that there might be other, more appropriate grape varieties than Cabernet and Merlot. But this can take quite a long time.

Sometimes even the first glimmers of change require a new generation to take over from their parents. And even then, it takes time for wines to emerge that are made in concrete tanks or old oak barrels, that use native yeast fermentations, that are more moderate in alcohol, higher in acidity, and employ indigenous varieties found in heritage vineyard sites that express something unique in terms of terroir.

In the Swartland, within little more than a decade, the wine industry went from basically one guy making great wine against a backdrop of commercial plonk to one of the most vibrant arrays of wine on the planet, with dozens of producers making artisan wines from old vines, using interesting grape varieties that taste like the place they are grown, most of which are made in a style that characterizes many of the most exciting wines on the planet.

“I think what Eben did was really unlock the gates of rules and restrictions,” muses Mullineux. “He made it OK to try different things, and by sticking to his guns, showed that you can find your niche and not have to copy something else that exists out there in the world.”

This has happened not just in Swartland, but in South Africa as a whole. Certainly Sadie cannot be given credit for the entirety of the remarkable evolution that the country’s wine industry has gone through, but he may have been one of the first sparks to ignite what has been a remarkably exciting conflagration, which I will write more about in a forthcoming article.

In the meantime, it is enough to say that Swartland continues to be a hotbed of remarkable wine projects, many of which are making some of the very best wines in South Africa as a whole.

The Next Chapter for Swartland

In 2015, after five years of significant growth in both attendees and wineries, Sadie and his compatriots shut down the Swartland Revolution tastings.

“Revolutions can’t go on forever,’ laughs Sadie. ‘It was time to make something broader and more inclusive.’ To that end, not long after the first Swartland Revolution tasting, the group launched the Swartland Independent Producers organization.

This group should not be confused with a regional marketing association designed to promote Swartland as an entire region (that’s the Swartland Wine and Olive Route), though regional recognition is among the objectives of this group.

Instead, the organization of 22 producers has decided to operate more like a movement. Membership requires a willingness to make wines according to the group’s values, which include principles of winemaking that will sound pretty familiar by this point, including native yeast fermentation, a maximum of 25% new oak usage, and more.

“It’s not about marketing as much as it is about education,” says Mullineux. “It’s about expressing what we believe in, and inspiring people.”

A few of these producers lean heavily into the natural wine genre, making pét-nats, carbonic glou-glou wines, or heavily skin-macerated white wines, while most stick to a more classic wine profile. In both categories, the wines are generally very good, with a remarkable number of them firmly in the category of excellent.

And then there are the wines that are positively revelatory.

Sadie, now 52 years old, makes wines that consistently hover between thrilling and mindblowing, and demand has escalated to the point that he sells every bottle the first day they become available for purchase. But then there’s also the Pinotage from Wolf & Woman that forever changed my conception of what Pinotage could be. Or the old-vine Colombard from Aspoestertjie, the ultra-rare Semillon Gris from Swerwer, or the Tinta Barocca bottled by Lammershoek appropriately under their “Mysteries” label.

There are just so many phenomenal bottles to be had from the Swartland.

Mao Zedong once said, “If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.”

Here’s my invitation to experience the Swartland Revolution and in so doing, take part in it. If you’re paying attention you can’t help but be changed.

Tasting Notes

A number of these wines aren’t easy to find in the U.S. (or the rest of the world for that matter). I’ve tried to make a guess at the price of some wines based on other export markets even if I was unable to find an example to purchase online. If you ever happen to be in South Africa, I highly recommend buying a bunch of wine to bring back with you, as these wines can be incredibly inexpensive in their home market (a fact that many South African producers rightfully bemoan). And when I say inexpensive I mean a wine that would cost $40 here in the USA you can get there for the equivalent of $9 to $12.

Even though the wines are more expensive on these shores, they are still excellent values compared to top wines elsewhere in the world, so I do hope you’ll seek some out and enjoy them. The South African wine industry needs your support, as it’s leaning into headwinds much stronger than the general difficulties facing the global industry, not least of which is the fact that most people don’t understand just how great South African wine can be.

Together we can change that.

White and Pink Wines With a Score Around 10

2021 Sadie Family Wines ‘T Voetpad White Blend
Pale, greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of unripe apples and wet sea air. In the mouth, saline and floral flavors of peach, apple, pear, and candied grapefruit have a delicate acidity and long finish. Remarkable, shimmering, Technicolor, and complex. A “perfect” 10. A field blend of Semillon (white & gris), Palomino, Chenin Blanc, and Hanepoot (Muscat of Alexandria). Vines planted in 1897. $101. click to buy.

2020 Sadie Family Wines Palladius White Blend
Light greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of honey, lemon peel, and bee pollen. In the mouth, citrus peel, citrus oil, and white flowers mix with the flavor but not the sweetness of honey. Long, incredible crystalline acidity makes the whole thing feel like you’re drinking liquid quartz crystals glinting with sunlight. A “perfect” 10. A blend of Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Viognier, Verdelho, Roussanne, Marsanne, Semillon Gris, Semillon Blanc, Palomino, and Colombard. 14% alcohol. $152. click to buy.

White and Pink Wines With a Score Between 9.5 and 10

2021 Mullineux Schist Chenin Blanc
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon and white flowers. In the mouth, electric acidity enlivens flavors of lemon, pear, and crushed stone. Notes of aromatic thyme linger through a soaring finish. Crystalline, bright and profound. $85. click to buy.

2020 Mullineux “Straw Wine” Chenin Blanc
Light amber in the glass, this wine smells of honey and marmalade. In the mouth, honey, candied orange peel, and explosive acidity linger with orange blossom aromas long into the finish. This wine spends a remarkable 9 months fermenting. $96. click to buy.

White and Pink Wines With a Score Around 9.5

2021 Sadie Family Wines “Skerpioen” White Blend
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of salty citrus pith. In the mouth, crackling electric saline flavors of pear, white flowers, and lemon have a lightly grippy texture and mouth-watering acidity. Very complex. Incredibly delicious. A blend of Chenin Blanc and Palomino grown on almost pure sand over limestone, a mere 2 kilometers from the ocean. Vines planted between 1958 and 1967. 13.5% alcohol. $94. click to buy.

2021 Alheit VineyardS “Fire By Night” Chenin Blanc
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of wet pavement, yellow herbs, citrus pith, and white flowers. In the mouth, pear, grapefruit, white flowers, and a beautiful fior di latte cream quality swirl in a beautifully silky texture across the palate. The acidity sneaks up on you with this wine, eventually asserting itself with a chalky texture and lemony vibrance in the finish, even as a sweet floral note lingers for a long time in the mouth. Certified heritage vineyard, planted between 1974 and 1985 at 300 meters of elevation and dry farmed on decomposed granite soils. 13% alcohol. Certified Sustainable. $70. click to buy.

2021 Mullineux “Granite” Chenin Blanc
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of honey, white flowers, and candied citrus. In the mouth, candied citrus, quince, and grapefruit flavors have great minerality and a light grip. Notes of pear skin linger in the finish. Amazing acidity. $85. click to buy.

2021 Swerwer “Rooi-Groen” Sémillon Gris
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells flinty with hints of struck match and wet salty, lemon pith. In the mouth, lemon pith and lemon oil are incredibly juicy thanks to excellent acidity. Deeply mineral. There are purportedly only two blocks of this grape (a mutation of Semillon) left in South Africa. 12.5% alcohol. $15.

2019 Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards “Reserve” White Blend
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells salty with citrus pith and starfruit and lemon cucumber aromas. In the mouth, lemon cucumber, starfruit, and white flowers mix with stone fruit and excellent acidity. Notes of guava emerge in the finish. 70% Chenin Blanc, the rest a white field blend, all aged in 5000-liter foudres. 13% alcohol. $25.

2016 Aspoestertjie Colombard
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of honey and white flowers. In the mouth, honeyed citrus and saline flavors are incredibly crystalline with notes of starfruit lingering in the finish. Fantastic acidity. Apparently, Aspoestertjie is how you say “Cinderella” in Afrikaans. $??

White and Pink Wines With a Score Between 9 and 9.5

2021 Mullineux “Old Vine” White Blend
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of green apples, white flowers, and wet chalkboard. In the mouth, green apple, starfruit, and Asian pear mix with lime and lemon and a wet chalkboard minerality. Excellent acidity. 13.5% alcohol. $34. click to buy.

2020 Swerwer “Tiernes” Chenin Blanc
Light greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of herbs and citrus. In the mouth, flavors of pear, herbs, chamomile, and quince, mix with a light pear skin bitterness. Lemon peel lingers in the finish with a deeply mineral quality. Planted in sandy granite soils in 1983. $50.

2020 Swerwer “Kweperfontein” Semillon
Light greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon peel, white flowers, and wet chalkboard. In the mouth, candle wax, bee pollen, and lemon sherbet flavors have a stony acidity and a light grip. Very pretty. Vines planted in 1963. $??

2020 Lammershoek “Mysteries” Rosé
Pale pink in the glass, this wine smells of bright citrus peel and berries. In the mouth, flavors of strawberry, watermelon, and herbs mix with wet stone minerality and great acidity. A blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. $25.

2018 Lammershoek “Reserve” Chenin Blanc
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of quince, pear skin, and citrus peel. In the mouth, flavors of grapefruit, pear, and quince are zippy with fantastic acidity. Vines planted in 1988 in fractured granite soils. $30.

2020 Rall White Blend
Pale to near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of pear and lemon peel with a hint of thyme and grapefruit. In the mouth, grapefruit, Asian pear, thyme, and other herbs make for a bright, juicy, and long wine with an almost crystalline quality. A blend of Chardonnay, Verdelho, and Viognier. 13% alcohol. $40.

2021 Rall Grenache Blanc
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of apple, white peaches, and white flowers. In the mouth, tangy and slightly salty green apple flavors mix with white peach and a hint of melon. Wonderfully silky, salty, and juicy with hints of starfruit lingering in the finish. $30.

2021 Rall “NOA” Chenin Blanc
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of quince, grapefruit, and herbs. In the mouth, salty flavors of grapefruit and citrus pith mix with pear. Great acidity keeps the wine long and bright in the mouth with a silky texture and a wet chalkboard quality lingering in the finish with lemon oil. 2.1 hectares of vines planted in the 1960s in fractured granite in the Paardeberg. Fermented in a concrete egg. $70. click to buy.

2021 Rall “AVA” Chenin Blanc
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine has a flinty nose of lemon and wet pavement. In the mouth, lemon and grapefruit pith mix with pear and wet chalkboard, which all linger salty and bright through a long finish. Fantastic acidity. Vines grown in fractured schist. $55.

2022 Riebeek Valley Wine Co. “Kasteelberg” Chenin Blanc
Light blonde gold in the glass, this wine smells of quince and candied grapefruit. In the mouth, candied grapefruit, pear, and lemon peel flavors have great acidity and a long, vanilla-scented finish. $29. click to buy.

2021 Wolf & Woman “Old Vines” Chenin Blanc
Pale greenish gold in the glass to the point of being nearly colorless, this wine smells of lemon, citrus pith, and pear. In the mouth, the wine has a lightly grippy texture as flavors of lemon, pear, and hints of pollen and quince have great acidity and dynamism. $28.

2022 Wolf & Woman Rosé of Grenache
Pale, baby pink in the glass, this wine smells of wet chalkboard, citrus peel, and berries. In the mouth, citrus and wet chalkboard flavors have a stony, raspberry quality with a hint of herbs that lingers in the finish. Excellent acidity. $20. click to buy.

White and Pink Wines With a Score Around 9

2022 AA Badenhorst “Secateurs” Chenin Blanc
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of pears, white flowers, and fresh herbs. In the mouth, zippy flavors of lemon peel, pear, white flowers, and grapefruit tingle with excellent acidity. Bright, juicy, and very tasty. 12.5% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Certified Sustainable. $18. click to buy.

2021 Aspoestertjie Colombard
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of sea air, wet chalkboard, and citrus pith. In the mouth, wet chalkboard, citrus pith, and lime mix with Buddha’s hand citrus amidst a saline complexion. Great acidity. 38-year-old vines farmed organically. $??

2021 Mullineux “Kloof Street Old Vine” Chenin Blanc
Pale as gold in the glass, this wine smells of citrus pith and pear skin. In the mouth, pear, quince, and grapefruit flavors are brought alive by excellent acidity. There’s a light grip to the wine as vanilla and lemon peel linger in the finish. 13% alcohol. $20. click to buy.

2021 Swerwer Chenin Blanc
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of quince, grapefruit, and wet stones. In the mouth, lean pear, quince, and grapefruit pith flavors mix with wet chalkboard minerality and great acidity. There’s a light grip heading into the finish. 13% alcohol. $40. click to buy.

2021 Swerwer “The Pineapple Express Pet-Nat” Ferdinand de Lesseps
Cloudy pale yellow in the glass, this wine smells of stony lemon and pineapple. In the mouth, mineral and cloudy pineapple flavors mix with wet stone and herbs. This grape was registered as Chenin Blanc when it was planted but has since been identified as Ferdinand de Lesseps, a rare hybrid of Chasselas and Isabella. $??

2018 Lammershoek “Die Harde Blaar” Hárslevelű
Medium gold in the glass, this wine smells of bee pollen and dried citrus peel. In the mouth, extremely mineral flavors of bee pollen, dried citrus peel, and apricot have a deep stony quality and a long finish. Three to four days of skin contact. $20.

2022 Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards Rosé
Palest pink in the glass, this wine smells of watermelon and strawberry. In the mouth, candied watermelon and berry flavors have very bright acidity. There’s a slight sweetishness here, but the wine is very pretty. A blend of Cinsault, Grenache, and Mourvèdre. 12.5% alcohol. $??

2018 Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards “Heritage” Chenin Blanc
Light yellow gold in the glass, this wine smells of quince, grapefruit, and wet pavement. In the mouth, flavors of pear and quince mix with white flowers. The flavors are polished and with delicate acidity and a light grip. Vines were planted between 1970 and 1980. 13% alcohol. $35.

2022 Riebeek Valley Wine Co. “Raar – Skin Contact” Chenin Blanc
Light greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of citrus peel and herbs. In the mouth, citrus, pear skin, and grippy tannins wrap around a core of pear and herbal fruit. Great acidity. Vines planted in 1969. $??

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito” Hárslevelű
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon oil and melon. In the mouth, lemony flavors of guava, candied grapefruit, and melon are bright and juicy with excellent acidity. 12% alcohol. $??

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito – I Wish I Was A Ninja” Sparkling Colombard
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of wet chalkboard, green apple, and lime. In the mouth, a green SweetTart® flavor has a saline and green apple quality. The wine is moderately sweet with 8.5% alcohol. Unusual and fun. $??

2021 Testalonga “Baby Bandito – Keep on Punching” Chenin Blanc
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of quince and apple. In the mouth, quince and lemon pith mix with apple and herbs. Very stony, bright, and delicious with great acidity. Vines planted in 1960. $25.

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito – Cortez” Chenin Blanc
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of membrillo with lean grapefruit aromas. In the mouth, bright citrus, grapefruit, pear, and stony wet pavement flavors have a wonderful pithy finish and great acidity. Grown in granitic soils. $??

2021 Rall Cinsault Blanc
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of lemon cucumber, apples, and Asian pear. In the mouth, lemon and lime flavors are tightly wound and mix with crab apple and zingy, zippy wet pavement acidity. Only 0.2 hectares of vines have this mutation that yields green berries instead of red. 11.5% alcohol. 1356 bottles made. $25.

2022 Kloovenburg “Eight Feet” White Blend
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of stony apple, peach, and melon aromas. In the mouth, flavors of wet chalkboard, starfruit, and melon have a citrusy and stony quality. Excellent acidity. A blend of Grenache Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, and Verdelho. $30. click to buy.

2021 Wolf & Woman Grenache Blanc
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine has a peachy nose with citrus notes. In the mouth, bright citrus flavors have a wonderful minerality and stone fruit flavors that are lean and bright. Excellent acidity. $31. click to buy.

White and Pink Wines With a Score Between 8.5 and 9

2022 AA Badenhorst “Secateurs – Riviera” White Blend
Medium gold in the glass, with amber highlights, this wine smells of sage, apricot, and yellow plums. In the mouth, yellow plum, plum skin, apricot, and orange peel flavors are silky with a nice weighty texture on the palate. Very good acidity keeps things from being too flabby. Notes of sarsaparilla linger in the finish. A blend of 63% Chenin Blanc, 20% Buketraube, 9% Sauvignon Blanc, and 8% Roussanne, of which 60% is crushed whole-cluster and skin macerated. 13% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Certified sustainable. $20. click to buy.

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito – I Am The Ninja – Pet-nat” Chenin Blanc
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of apples and Asian pear. In the mouth, the wine is lean and bright and lightly sweet with a nice spritz to it. 10.5% alcohol. 15 grams per liter residual sugar. $31. click to buy.

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito – Skin Contact” Chenin Blanc
White gold in the glass, this wine smells of wet leaves and dried citrus peel. In the mouth, the wine has a tannic grip with flavors of citrus peel and citrus pith mixed with wet chalkboard. The chalky texture extends into the finish. $50. click to buy.

2021 Tim Hillock Chenin Blanc
Pale gold in the glass, this wine has a floral, pear, and apple aroma. In the mouth, lightly grippy textures deliver flavors of apple and lemon. Decent acidity. $??

2018 Lammershoek “White Mysteries” White Blend
Pale, bright greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of fennel pollen, peach, and apple. In the mouth, flavors of tart apple, unripe peach, and stony wet pavement have a bright juiciness and excellent acidity. A blend of Chenin Blanc, Viognier, and Chardonnay. $??

2019 Lammershoek “Die Ou Nooi” Chardonnay
Light greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of stony lemon pith. In the mouth, bright stony lemon pith, grapefruit, and wet chalkboard flavors have an extremely mineral quality. Vines planted in 1982, making them the oldest Chardonnay planting in South Africa. $??

White and Pink Wines With a Score Around 8.5

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito – Sweet Cheeks” Muscat of Alexandria
This wine has a wild, almost feral nose of oils and bitter herbs. In the mouth, tight citrusy flavors mix with exotic oils and wet chalkboard. Strange soaring aromatics. The wine spends 10 days on skins. $54. click to buy.

White and Pink Wines With a Score Around 8

2022 Pulpit Rock “Brink Family Vineyards” Chenin Blanc
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of passion fruit. In the mouth, passion fruit, citrus, and wet chalkboard flavors are somewhat simple and straightforward. Doesn’t really taste like Chenin.

Red Wines

Red Wines With a Score Between 9.5 and 10

2021 Sadie Family Wines “Poffadder” Cinsault
Light garnet in the glass, this wine is incredibly aromatic with a bright floral perfume that wafts out of the glass. In the mouth, berries, flowers, and herbs are electric with amazing acidity and lightly stony tannins. The wine is incredibly perfumed with notes of bergamot lingering in the finish. 13% alcohol. $93. click to buy.

2021 Sadie Family Wines “Treinspoor” Tinta Barroca
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of berries, flowers, and strawberries. In the mouth, lightly grippy tannins wrap around a combination of citrus peel, strawberry fruit, and wonderful crushed stone minerality. Delicate with amazing acidity. 13.5% alcohol. $94. click to buy.

2020 Sadie Family Wines “Columella” Red Blend
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cassis, plum, and flowers. In the mouth, stony strawberry, blackberry, and floral flavors are wrapped with stony fine-grained tannins and brought alive with a saline, zippy acidity. Deeply complex with a long finish. A blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Carignan, and Grenache. 13.5% alcohol. $180. click to buy.

Red Wines With a Score Around 9.5

2017 Lammershoek “Mysteries – Die Onderstok” Carignan
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of floral, berry, and herbal aromas. In the mouth, great acidity makes juicy flavors of Dr. Pepper®, cherry, and boysenberry come alive. Zingy, with lightly grippy tannins. Vines planted in 1976. $??

2017 Lammershoek “Mysteries – Die Ou Man” Tinta Barocca
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black tea, dried flowers, and cola. In the mouth, flavors of cola, berries, and citrus peel are wrapped in tight, finely-grained tannins and brought alive with super juicy acidity. Bright plum flavors linger in the finish. Vines planted in 1969. $40

2018 Lammershoek “Red Mysteries” Red Blend
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of slightly sweaty cassis and berries. In the mouth, the wine is super juicy with blackberry and blueberry flavors, zippy with great acidity that lingers with orange peel brightness in the finish. Faint powdery tannins. A blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Carignan. $??

2020 Porseleinberg “PK Special Whole Bunch” Syrah
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a hint of barnyard aroma with a meaty, spicy, and salty set of aromas. In the mouth, salty blackberry and meaty blueberry flavors mix with herbs wrapped in fine tannins. Great acidity. A very unusual and profound wine. Whole-cluster fermented. $??

2021 Wolf & Woman Syrah
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of struck match, herbs, and a meaty garrigue quality. In the mouth, stony flavors of blueberry and flowers are saline in quality with great acidity and are wrapped in fine tannins. Whole-cluster fermented, then aged in cement and old oak. 12.5% alcohol. $35. click to buy.

Red Wines With a Score Between 9 and 9.5

2020 Mullineux “Granite – Jackalsfontein” Syrah
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of floral boysenberry and blackberry aromas. In the mouth, stony, pulverized rock tannins wrap around a core of blackberry and salty dried herbs. A chalk dust texture lingers in the mouth with aromas of thyme. $100. click to buy.

2020 Mullineux “Schist” Syrah
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blueberry and wet chalkboard with a meaty undertone. In the mouth, juicy, saline flavors that resemble blood or iodine mix with blueberry and blackberry vibrate with great acidity. The finish is extremely long and features fantastic dried herbs and fine tannins. $100. click to buy.

2021 Swerwer Red Blend
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of berries, dried flowers, and a hint of bubblegum. In the mouth, lightly grippy tannins wrap around a core of berries, herbs, and dried flowers. Great acidity and stony minerality make this a crunchy, glou-glou kind of wine. 13% alcohol. A blend of Cinsault, Grenache, and Tinta Barocca. $28. click to buy.

2018 Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards “Heritage” Syrah
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of meaty, dark berries with a nice saline and umami quality. In the mouth, that umami quality continues with blackberry, black cherry, and herbs. Soft, supple tannins wrap around the fruit, but stony minerality keeps things bright and crisp. 13% alcohol. $??

2021 Riebeek Valley Wine Co. “Kasteelberg” Syrah
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blackberry and black plum with hints of floral aromas. In the mouth, great acidity makes flavors of cassis and blackberry juicy and bright. Sharp acidity and faint tannins, along with floral notes and herbs linger in the finish. $27. click to buy.

2021 Wolf & Woman Pinotage
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a slightly vegetal herbal and berry flavor. In the mouth, the wine is very stony with bright berry flavors wrapped in lightly grippy tannins. Notes of cherry and black tea linger through a salty finish. Crunchy, bright, and astonishing. Planted in 1973 in fractured granite soils. Possibly the most revelatory Pinotage I have ever had. $30. click to buy.

Red Wines With a Score Around 9

2020 Mullineux “Kloof Street” Red Blend
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine is incredibly aromatic with floral and berry aromas. In the mouth, blackberry, raspberry, and herb flavors are bright and juicy with fantastic acidity and a hint of salinity. A blend of Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, and Tinta Barroca. $20. click to buy.

2021 Swerwer Touriga Nacional
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blackberries and tea with a hint of cassis and herbs. In the mouth, herbs, cassis, and black tea flavors are wrapped in grippy tannins that turn powdery. Great acidity. 13% alcohol. $25. click to buy.

2021 Swerwer Shiraz
Medium purple in the glass, this wine smells of blackberry and wet pavement. In the mouth, grippy tannins wrap around a core of blackberry, black plum, and spicy herbs. Floral notes linger in the finish. 13.5% alcohol. $25.

2018 Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards “Reserve” Red Blend
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of meaty, cassis, and blackberry flavors with dried herbs. In the mouth, flavors of blackberry, black cherry, and a hint of roasted figs have a light saline note and fine, powdery tannins. Very good acidity. A blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault. $??

2022 Riebeek Valley Wine Co. “Raar – Carbonic” Shiraz
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of herbs and stems. In the mouth, juicy berry, boysenberry, and floral fruit flavors are wrapped in fine-grained tannins. This wine has a glou-glou quality with a crunchy bright acidity and herbs on the finish. Aged in old oak. $??

2022 Riebeek Valley Wine Co. “Raar” Petite Sirah
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of floral and boysenberry aromas. In the mouth, flavors of boysenberry are broad and juicy with fine restrained tannins and floral notes lingering in the finish, boisterous and berry bright. 30% whole cluster fermentation. 14% alcohol. $??

2020 Rall Red Blend
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a meaty aroma of blackberry and tea. In the mouth, black cherry and blackberry fruit mix with cassis wrapped in grippy tannins. Good acidity. A blend of Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan, Grenache, and Mourvèdre 13.5% alcohol. $??

2021 Aspoestertjie Red Blend
Like garnet in the glass, this wine has a floral berry aroma with notes of blossoms. In the mouth, grippy tannins wrap around boysenberry, citrus peel, and floral flavors. Great acidity. A blend of 13 different varieties with vines approximately 60 years old. 13% alcohol. $??

2021 Testalonga “Baby Bandito – Chin Up” Red Blend
Like garnet in the glass, this wine has a floral and fruity nose. In the mouth, it is brightly juicy with berry and floral flavors mixed with dried herbs and citrus peel. Great acidity. $??

2021 Tim Hillock “Rooi” Red Blend
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of floral berries and herbs. In the mouth, tight tannins wrap around a core of berry and herbal flavors mixed with dried citrus. A long finish has a stony, mineral quality. Excellent acidity. A blend of 30% Cinsault, 30% Syrah, 22% Tinta Barocca, and 18% Grenache. $??

2021 Kloovenburg “Eight Feet” Red Blend
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of berries, earth, and herbs. In the mouth, strawberry and boysenberry herb flavors mix with earth, muddy river tannins, and good acidity. $25. click to buy.

2021 Testalonga “Baby Bandito – Follow Your Dreams” Carignan
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of strawberry and petrichor. In the mouth, tight tart strawberry, raspberry, and wet earth flavors are very, very stony and tangy with a sour cherry quality that lingers in the finish. Rosé-like. Excellent acidity. $31. click to buy.

Red Wines With a Score Between 8.5 and 9

2021 Tim Hillock “Paradiso” Syrah
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of meaty blackberry, black cherry, and cassis. In the mouth, thick tannins wrap around stony, fresh acidity and powdery cherry and cassis flavors. 14% alcohol. $??

2019 Mullineux Syrah
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of meaty, roasted fig aromas with hints of raisin and blueberry. In the mouth, blueberry, blackberry, and roasted fig flavors mixed with herbs and earth. Good acidity. 100% whole cluster fermentation. $40. click to buy.

2021 Kloovenburg Grenache
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of strawberry jam and herbs. In the mouth, strawberry jam, herbs, and light grippy tannins have great acidity. $25. click to buy.

2021 Kloovenburg Shiraz
Dark purple in the glass, this wine has a stony, blackberry, and floral aroma with a hint of earth. In the mouth, iodine, earth, black cherry, and cassis mix with very good acidity and fine tannins. $20. click to buy.

2021 Rall Cinsault
Light garnet in the glass, this wine has floral and berry aromas. In the mouth, herbs and berries mix with wet pavement wrapped in tight tannins. Slightly lower acidity here. 12% alcohol. $24. click to buy.

2021 Rall Syrah
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of spicy herbs and blood. In the mouth, blood orange, earth, and iodine mix with dried flowers and herbs to give an overall savory and salty complexion. Whole bunch fermentation in concrete. 12% alcohol. $42. click to buy.

Red Wines With a Score Around 8.5

2020 Lammershoek Pinotage
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of bright berries and herbs with a hint of green vegetables. In the mouth, bright berry mixed herbs are surrounded by fine tannins and underlit by bright crunchy acidity. $??

2021 Kloovenburg Riebeekberg Syrah
Medium purple in the glass, this wine smells of herbal blackberry aromas that have a meaty quality. In the mouth, herbs, blackberries, and bloody meat mix with forest floor. Very good acidity and fine tannins. 13.5% alcohol. $??

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito – Queen of Spades” Tinta Amarilla
Light ruby in the glass, this wine smells of black tea and a whiff of berries. In the mouth, tangy citrus peel and stony crystalline acidity keep the wine tight with berry and stone lingering in the finish. $??

2021 Rall AVA Syrah
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine has floral aromas with earth and cassis underneath. In the mouth, floral flavors of earth and herbs mix with cassis, blackberry, and iodine, notes of earth linger in the finish. Thick powerful tannins apply muscle to the palate. Aged in old barrels. 11.8% alcohol. $35. click to buy.

Red Wines With a Score Between 8 and 8.5

2021 Testalonga “El Bandito – Monkey Gone to Heaven” Mourvèdre
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of berries and wet pavement. In the mouth, extremely lean wet pavement and berry flavors mix with citrus. The wine is tight and compressed with a hint of dried flowers lingering in the finish.

Red Wines With a Score Around 8

2021 Pulpit Rock “Swartland Stories” Cinsault
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of spicy candied berries. In the mouth, candied berries and raisin flavors seem tired and perhaps overripe.

Some photos courtesy of Wines of South Africa.