Elgin and Swartland - the New South African Wine Country

In post-apartheid South Africa, Elgin and Swartland have emerged as the districts with the greatest acceleration towards becoming unique regions of identity and quality in the South African wine industry. As the coolest grape growing region in South Africa, Elgin seeks to produce the finest wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy.

In the hot winegrowing district of Swartland, revolutionary winemakers break with its history of producing for larger merchants and co-operatives, preserving its heritage of their old vine Chenin Blanc, and establishing their own rules of true terroir expression.

Progressing from South Africa’s history of missed opportunities for fine wines, a desire for profits over quality, overregulation by government, and the scourge and devastation of apartheid, Elgin and Swartland are poised to refresh the conversation about South African wines on the world stage. (White, 2020)

For context to understand Elgin and Swartland’s emergence in recent years, the South African wine industry’s centuries of struggles began with Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival on the Cape of Good Hope on April 6, 1652 (Robinson MW, 2015). Under Van Riebeeck, the new colony became a ‘refreshment station’ for trade ships to-and-from Holland and Batavia (Indonesia) under the Dutch East India Company (VOC) (Clarke, 2020). The protagonist of viticulture in South Africa, he saw its potential, establishing vineyards east of Table Mountain in Cape Town, repeatedly appealing to the VOC for people with greater wine expertise, but to no avail.

Simon van der Stel arrived in 1679, significantly transforming the Cape’s viticulture (Clarke, 2020). He established Stellenbosch and revealed the potential for viticulture away from the Cape of Good Hope. The establishment of the Constantia Estate in 1685 near Cape Town was his most important achievement; the dessert wines produced here, namely Vin de Constance, achieved worldwide prestige (Robinson MW, 2015).

After struggles with phylloxera and the British takeover of the colony through the 18th and 19th centuries, South Africa also suffered from a lack of quality and diversity in its wines, and a lack of presence in the broader marketplace.

Founded in 1918, the South African Co-operative Wine Grower’s Association (KWV) was created to protect grape growers from fluctuating market prices and excess production (Clarke, 2020). Over time, the KWV became tied to the powerful grape farming lobby and white governments, setting quotas and prices that favored bulk wine producers over independent estate producers (Robinson MW, 2015).

With little incentive towards quality, much of the wine was exported to Great Britain for blending, and sold domestically as distillate for fortification, spirits, grape juice and vinegar. Wine producers without the KWV had a significantly more difficult time getting their wines to market (Clarke, 2020). Its statutory powers revoked in 1998, the KWV became a private company, and the new free market economy allowed the South African wine industry to open dramatically (Robinson MW, 2015)

Following Nelson Mandela’s release from prison to the first free democratic elections in 1994, the wine industry reckoned with apartheid, racism and its endemic abuses from its colonial past – from the use of slaves through the mid-1800s, to the despicable dop system in which workers were paid in alcohol instead of wages, causing pervasive alcoholism with devastating effect (James, 2013; Clarke, 2020).

The South African government pivoted to what it calls ‘transformation’, rating businesses’ assimilation of more diversity in leadership and production, land grants and entrepreneurial opportunities—an earnest effort, with much more work to be done (Clarke, 2020).

In post-apartheid South Africa, Elgin and Swartland are changing the conversation regarding the possibilities for wine on the Cape. Although they both share unique climates, a passion towards expression of terroir, and the goal of having regional identities towards quality, they differ greatly in the types of climates, the varieties grown, and their philosophies towards what makes them unique.

Additionally, viticulturalist Rosa Kruger has been instrumental in the search for terroir in both districts, with her early presence in Elgin to her preservation efforts of old vines in Swartland (Robinson MW, 2013). Furthermore, the grape growing methods and winemaking practices of pioneers Paul Cluver in Elgin and Eben Sadie in Swartland have influenced the producers in both districts, helping Elgin and Swartland emerge as winegrowing regions of distinction in South Africa.

From 1896, Paul Cluver’s family estate produced apples for four generations before planting vines in 1985. After a conversation with Paul Pontallier of Château Margaux in 2009, Cluver realized the terroir was best suited to Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (Jackson MW, 2020).

Cluver believes that “Our USP is fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at a fraction of the price of Burgundy (Eedes, 2019).” He receives advice and guidance from Martin Prieur of Jacques Prieur in Meursault, Burgundy, with both exchanging visits throughout the year (Jackson MW, 2020). Although there are only about 600 hectares under vine in Elgin, Cluver states that “99% of those hectares are about quality production (Barnes, 2020).” 

Paul Cluver’s grape growing methods and winemaking practices have influenced producers in Elgin, that they “think terroir is very much an interaction with man and environment (Barnes, 2020).” Nestled in an inland mountain plateau, Elgin is significantly cooler than the rest of the wine growing regions in South Africa, even 10˚C cooler than neighboring Stellenbosch (Jackson MW, 2020).

With its 15 km proximity to the Southern Ocean and 500-meter elevation, the grapes have an extended ripening period, slowing down the accumulation of sugars (Cluver, 2021). The diurnal shift preserves the acidity in the berries, with Cluver aiming for “minerality, that freshness in the wine…We get phenolic ripeness without losing freshness (Barnes, 2020).” With double guyot training under sustained cloud cover that intercepts sunlight, the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grow on Bokkeveld shale soils, high in iron deposits that contribute to the minerality in the wines. Cluver’s connection to Burgundy informs his approach to terroir, yet he aims for a style that’s “leans more towards Oregon…with great acidity, great freshness, beautiful purity of fruit and balance (Barnes, 2020).”

With winemaking practices, Paul Cluver believes that “we grow great wine, we don’t make it in the winery (Barnes, 2020).” His patient, painstaking commitment to quality in his top end Seven Flags Chardonnay and Pinot Noir has made them benchmarks for South Africa (Eedes, 2019).

The Chardonnay is whole bunch pressed with no settling agents, wild fermentation in barrique, no sulfur contact, and with little to no malolactic conversion (Cluver, 2020). The Pinot Noir goes through extensive individual berry sorting, gravity-filled vats, wild fermentation and with some Burgundian yeast inoculation (Cluver, 2020). Ultimately, he wants to be in harmony with nature, that “we want these grapes to reflect our area…it’s taking that and putting it in the bottle with minimal intervention (Barnes, 2020).”

Andrew Gunn of Iona and Richard Kershaw MW of Richard Kershaw Wines are some of the heirs to Paul Cluver’s vision and influence in Elgin. In 1997, retired engineer Andrew Gunn purchased an old apple farm and planted vineyards, foreseeing the potential of Elgin as a grape growing region (James, 2013).

Viticulturalist Rosa Kruger had a hand in Iona’s initial success, as her unique, terroir-expressive 2000 Sauvignon Blanc established Iona as “one of the best producers of the variety in the Cape (Atkin MW, 2020).”

Following the success of her cool climate Sauvignon Blanc, Iona produces substantial, high-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from their own vineyards with sustainable, practicing-organic farming methods, believing that “great wines are grown in the vineyard (Iona, 2021).” In the cellar, they ensure that a minimum of sulfur, cultured yeasts, enzymes and filtration are used (Iona, 2021).

Richard Kershaw MW of Richard Kershaw Wines specializes in working with specific clones of Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (Clarke, 2020). “Elgin really relies on the sort of more elegant, lighter grapes such as Chardonnay and Pinot…And although we are in an apple region per se…Chardonnay and Pinot…can excel here (Barnes, 2020).

He recognizes the unique climate, soil types, elevation and proximity to the sea, employing grape growing techniques that express terroir with more site specificity. By using high-quality Dijon Chardonnay clones from Burgundy, multiple clones from multiple blocks and soils, and a proprietary algorithm to determine in which barrels to place them, Kershaw aims to “achieve terroir specificity to the wine (Barnes, 2020).”

Regarding winemaking practices, he believes that “the wines mustn’t be interfered with…To try and do terroir-rated wines… we have to be as true to it as possible.” He avoids intervention by not adding acidity, enzymes, or yeast, aiming for wines that are “as natural as possible,” to which Kershaw believes that “by the interplay of doing nothing, you can start to find what different plots and areas within the Elgin region can start to do (Barnes, 2020).” 

As Elgin has evolved as a terroir of distinction for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Swartland has evolved as a terroir of distinction for its old vine Chenin Blanc in addition to Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan and a host of red and white Rhône varieties that thrive in Swartland’s hot and dry climate (James, 2013).

With an average daytime summer temperature of 24˚ C with little rainfall (James, 2013), Swartland has struggled with drought-like conditions in recent years, receiving only 300-500 millimeters of rain per year, with dry farming the norm as less than 50 percent of the land under vine is irrigated. Chenin Blanc is the most planted, with a focus on preserving the unique character of its oldest, low-yielding vines (Clarke, 2020).

In 1997, Swartland began to emerge when Charles Back established the Spice Route Winery. His pioneering insight and intelligence of the region drew attention, planting bush vines and taking advantage of the diurnal shifts and lack of irrigation (James, 2013).

Viticulturalist Rosa Kruger and Back’s winemaker at the time, Eben Sadie, would elevate Swartland’s profile even further. Recognized worldwide for her efforts to preserve, protect and certify old vines in South Africa with her Old Vine Project, Kruger introduced Sadie to some old vine Chenin Blanc and Semillon (Robinson MW, 2013). Sadie revealed the quality potential of Swartland through his benchmark ‘Palladius’ old vine Chenin Blanc-based white blend and his ‘Columella’ Syrah-based red blend.

At The Sadie Family Wines, he honed his deep understanding of revealing terroir through the grape growing techniques he learned in Priorat, Spain and in the Rhône valley, pruning bush vines of Syrah to a single pole, like those found in Côte-Rôtie (James, 2013).

Tim James writes that “to understand the split character of the Swartland, the old and the new, it is instructive simply to stand amid Sadie’s unirrigated, organically treated, gnarled old bush vines…knowing what they produce, and to see on a neighboring hillside the thick green of long hedges of the same variety—knowing that they are grown to produce abundant, easily harvested grapes for Distell (James, 2013, p. 233).”

Sadie sees terroir anew, believing that “South Africa’s conditions are generally much closer to those of Spain, Portugal or southern Italy than they are to those of France. The Cape has suffered from Bordeaux-itis for too long (Atkin MW, 2009).” He blends for complexity from different parts of the district and beyond, often vinifying different parcels. This philosophy is shared by most of Swartland’s producers, especially through the grape growing and winemaking practices of A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines, David & Nadia and Rall Wines.

Cousins Hein and Adi Badenhorst tend to 28 hectares of unirrigated old bush vines of Chenin Blanc, Grenache Noir and Cinsault that date from the 1950s and 1960s (A.A. Badenhorst, 2021). Renovated over the years, the vineyards show true terroir expression in the wines with blends from single vineyards reflecting their history and geology (Van Zyl, 2021). In the winery, fermentation with native yeasts is the norm, with almost entirely natural winemaking in old oak, concrete tanks and in large foudres (James, 2013).

David Sadie (no relation) and his wife Nadia of David and & Nadia Wines have created some of the most well-received wines out of Swartland to date using similar methods of biological farming: a shift away from agrochemicals to mulching and composting, with extensive green harvesting of Grenache, their signature variety (Robinson MW, 2018). With a focus on mainly bush vines on different soil types on mountain terrain, they also practice organic farming and natural winemaking, favoring concrete fermentation and older wood for maturation (Clarke, 2020).

Donovan Rall typified the Swartland Revolution when he successfully debuted his highly rated Rall White blend in 2008 (Gellie, 2021). Focusing on blends based on Chenin Blanc and Syrah, Rall also seeks out old vines from forgotten parcels in Swartland, believing in their greater complexity as expressed on their schistous soils. Having worked sustainably and sometimes organically, Rall has sourced fruit from over 30 vineyards, working with mixed cover crops and organic composting (Clarke, 2021).

Considered a pioneer in the use of neutral older oak, concrete and clay vessels, Rall’s philosophy is to “produce something unique by choosing interesting sites and expressing the place and the soil rather than typical varietal character or winemaking techniques (Van Zyl, 2021, p. 437).” Additionally, viticulturalist Rosa Kruger discovered a Cinsault mutation that Rall used in 2017 for perhaps the only known bottling of Cinsault Blanc in the world (Clarke, 2021). As prominent members of the Old Vine Project, Rall, David & Nadia and Badenhorst show their commitment to old vine expression through terroir.

The establishment of the Swartland Independent Producers (SIP) in 2011, however, sets Swartland apart from Elgin and the rest of South Africa. Although the SIP’s criteria does by default leave out some prominent producers such as Allesverloren, Kloovenburg and Babylon’s Peak, its European-style appellation requires all members to adhere to strict criteria: the wines vinified, matured and bottled in Swartland; 80% of production under their own labels; only specific varieties can be used; and wines naturally produced with no inoculated yeasts, yeast supplements, acidification, added tannins, nor chemical fining or technological processes that would “alter the constitution of the wines (Swartland Independent Producers, 2021).”

In addition, the wines must be aged in no more than 25% new wood of European origin, believing that too much new wood masks the essence of the grape variety (Swartland Independent Producers, 2021). Without the Swartland Revolution, Andrew Jefford writes that Swartland’s wines “might have remained unknown or ignored, its wine buried inside anonymous co-operative blends, for decades to come; and without that same avant-garde daring to leave the raw materials unadjusted in the vinification, we would not finally be beginning to taste terroir rather than winemaking (Jefford, 2014).”

The wine industries of Elgin and Swartland both share an essential common denominator for future success: a commitment to quality. Both districts possess what consumers seek from mid-tier to premium New World wines: craftsmanship, quality, a story and a sense of place. In the USA, for example, consumer demand continues to grow for information about where their food and beverage comes from – its point of origin, who made it, and how it was made. Extending to wine, consumers on- and off-premises are eager to explore wines that are unique, have complexity and an identity through expression of terroir, and are simply delicious.

In the USA, New World wines in an ‘Old World’ style are in high demand, a bill filled by Elgin’s Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs with their nod to Burgundy. With their passion for purity and strict parameters for quality akin to Germany’s VDP, Swartland’s wines appeal to younger consumers as something unique, fresh and compelling. Although quality is the goal and of the highest order in Elgin and Swartland, they will both need to overcome the dual market challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and a more robust brand ambassadorship for their wines to achieve and sustain success.

Most wine producers worldwide would probably agree on one thing: the most difficult thing about making wine is selling it. Historically, South African wines have struggled to maintain a perception of quality worldwide, especially in the USA. The paralysis of the South African wine industry from the Covid-19 pandemic certainly has not helped.

From full bans on alcohol consumption and sales domestically in South Africa, strict policies on exports, supply chain issues and a decidedly anti-alcohol government, a return to normal business is a formidable challenge. A policy of banning alcohol sales and consumption in order to keep hospital beds open for Covid patients severely damaged the export market in particular (Robinson MW, 2020; The Institute of Masters of Wine, 2021). A swift recovery to overcome and prevail over these market challenges remains to be seen, thus delaying and prolonging the route to market of the exceptional wines on offer from Elgin and Swartland.

A sustained effort of global ambassadorship for the wines of Elgin and Swartland by high profile wine professionals such as Jancis Robinson MW, Andrew Jeffords MW and Tim Atkins MW have elevated the profile of noteworthy producers from both regions in the UK and beyond. The USA has begun to follow suit in recent years.

Advanced Sommelier Rachel Speckan, Marketing Director at Maverick Wine Company, is one of the most important advocates for South African wines in the Midwest. Based in Chicago, Jim Clark of Blue Crane Imports has almost single-handedly raised the profile of South Africa’s finest producers for both on- and off-premises establishments. Lastly, sommeliers on-premises in Chicago are beginning to talk about the charm and beauty of Richard Kershaw and Paul Cluver’s wines. Although their market reach is slow and not without challenges, it is the quality of the wines from Elgin and Swartland that will drive their success.

In the United States, the wines of South Africa continue to have a perception of great value versus price for under $25—with delicious white wines, very good red blends and Cabernet Sauvignon, and divided opinions amongst consumers and sommeliers alike regarding the wines made from Pinotage. As ambassadorship continues to grow for the wines of Elgin and Swartland, they will no doubt take the lead and set the benchmark for quality South African wines in the years to come.