We may live in a water-world with water, water everywhere, but more than 97% of the earth’s water is too salty to be drunk or be used in agriculture and industry. Most of the remaining 3% is deep underground or, even now, frozen in ice. Less than 1% of the world’s total water is usable for domestic use, farming and industry. Of this agriculture uses some 70%.  The availability of even this 0.7% of  water is increasingly unreliable, being intimately linked to climate, and therefore becoming less predictable in the face of more extreme climate events, such as extreme flood events in some countries; long term drought in others.

As it becomes more recognised that water is the new gold, stewardship programmes for water management are being created to develop systems of sustainable river basin management, considering issues such as water risk, availability, quantity, quality, and fair-share usage. 

The South African wine industry has been first out of the blocks in thinking about water from the perspective of water boundaries, i.e. catchment, or watershed, areas, which often bear no relationship to geopolitical or parish boundaries.  This approach is out of necessity, Inge Kotze, BWI co-ordinator for the WWF in South Africa said, “our wine industry is located in one of South Africa’s most water stressed provinces – where demand [for water] is already outstripping supply … wine industry expansion is curtailed largely by water availability or lack thereof.” Su Birch, CEO of WOSA added “the increasing cost of water will help drive home the awareness that we need to do something.”

Kotze pointed out the fast pace of change in environmental standards, saying “three years ago no-one had heard of a carbon calculator.  It is the same journey of learning with water footprints: standards and labelling. We need the wine industry to get on the front foot.”

So whilst the global industry may already be familiar with the concept of waste water management, Birch emphasised, “waste water management is different from reducing water usage.” The treatment and re-use of waste water is already monitored as part of the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW), and she added “WOSA is going to work with BWI over the next 12 months to start promoting water neutrality to all our producers.”

Alien invasion

Clearing alien vegetation at Vergelegen

The industry has already identified alien plant species as one of the single biggest threats to water neutrality in the Cape. They use much more water than native species and burn more regularly and at higher temperatures … and, said Kotze, “planting alien trees that grow the fastest to carbon off-set is a shocking disincentive to addressing real carbon neutrality.”

As an agricultural product the key building blocks for grapes are healthy soils and a sufficient quantity of good-enough quality water.  But in South Africa, said Kotze, “invasive alien species, such as black wattle and pine, are degrading our soil and water catchments, and altering the natural fire regime.”

Infrequent fires are an essential part of the Cape Floral Kingdom in which the Cape winelands nestle. Kotze said “in the Western Cape, fire is our friend when it comes appropriately every eight years or longer.” She said “the 2009 fires burnt for five weeks. At Lourensford, which hadn’t burnt for 12 years, 660 species were discovered soon after, so the seed bank comes back once the alien species are cleared. But over 240 acres burnt in both December 2008 and January 2009” which is too frequent. And the wine industry is also severely affected by these fires.

Not only are alien vegetation fires too frequent, they cause large scale damage to infrastructure and soil, as well as threatening property and lives. Because alien vegetation comprises woody, tall trees, Kotze said, they “result in a very high biomass or fuel load, so fires are very hot and prolonged, whereas most fynbos is just that – fine bush, usually growing to hip level, with far lower fuel load / biomass.” Added to which fynbos burns at low intensity heat in short-lived fires due to the lower biomass.

Alien vegetation fires bake soils, which prevents rain water being absorbed. Run off and rapid erosion result.   

Wetlands

Fires are one thing, but alien vegetation has also been invading the natural wetlands of the Cape. Kotze said “the entire lowlands of the Western Cape – all the flat area in and around Cape Town, up the west coast and along the southern coast were all seasonal wetlands, all underpinned by huge groundwater aquifers in the Table Mountain sandstone.”

In an epoch of climate change wetlands are a frontline defence against moderating extreme climatic events. They act as a buffer between precipitation events and demand for water by capturing water and slowing down run off. They also filter pollutants before allowing a slow replenishing of groundwater aquifers. 

Rivers flow again at Boschendal

The Western Cape wetlands, already threatened by urban development have been eroded by alien vegetation literally sucking the life force out of them. Kotze said alien species are “enormous users of water, eucalypts use up to 300 litres per tree, per day in riparian areas on a hot summer day.”  The worst culprits are blue gums, black and silver wattles. 

The strategy of water catchment stewardship would demand they be replaced with natural fynbos. “When the alien trees are removed, the wetlands reappear” said Birch, and “when the wetlands return, the indigenous flora and fauna around them return.”

Kotze said “these groundwater systems form a critical component of our water provisioning strategies,” adding they “will be developing a freshwater stewardship component to the BWI, whereby producers can choose to participate in either the conservation of critically endangered veld types (as they are currently doing) and/ or freshwater habitats (rivers, tributaries or wetlands and estuaries).”  In Elim, Dirk Human of Black Oystercatcher Wines said the hippo is “the latest addition to our wetlands, the first time in 120 years that they’ve been back.” This initiative is part of the Nuwejaars Wetlands area where private land from 25 land owners has been committed to conservation and more sustainable farming.

Elsewhere in the world

South Africa may be the only wine producing country currently looking at an industry-wide initiative, but producers in other water-stressed countries are also taking a leading position.   

New Chilean vineyards

Chile’s largest producer, Viña Concha y Toro, having already measured their carbon footprint for the past three years, is the first winery to be measuring its water footprint.  Laura Noguer, their sustainable development manager said “this is an additional step in our sustainable development strategy and an important sign of our commitment to preserving the environment and its resources.”

In January 2010 Concha y Toro linked up with Fundación Chile and the Water Footprint Network (WFN), an international organisation aimed at promoting a move to sustainable and equitable fresh water use.

Noguer explained “The water footprint of a company measures directly and indirectly used water and it is a multidimensional [measurement] of ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘how much’ water is consumed, and polluted, considering the whole product supply chain.

“It also explains the type of water that is being used, for example, rainwater (green water), surface and groundwater (blue water), or polluted water (grey water).  The water footprint aims to determine all water consumption at all links in the chain, which are not available for the downstream water system: water that is evaporated (crop evapo-transpiration), withheld (dams) or is otherwise removed from the system (civil works to move water over long distances). Under this logic, contaminated water is water which is not available for later use, and therefore also computed. This methodology, which measures only the outputs of the system, has the advantage that does not allow double counting of water.”

While Concha y Toro wait for the results, potential actions are being discussed for water-use reduction, according to what the results reveal.

Errazuriz has followed in the (water) footsteps of Concha y Toro, and is also working on their water footprint in conjunction with WFN. Head winemaker Franciso Baettig said they will “calculate the Errázuriz water footprint during this season (productive year 2010-2011) by process and product.  The idea is to create an index of the water use in the vineyard and in the cellar. The second stage is to use this information in order to diminish the use of water and become more efficient in water use.”   

They are already anticipating changes to both practices and equipment. Baettig said “we are evaluating the replacement of our earth filters with crossflow filters which require less water for cleaning and washing the equipment and don’t generate earth to be disposed of.” And he added they are thinking how they can “recover all the lees from barrels which will diminish the water consumption for cleaning.”

Liquid waste treatment lagoons at Elgo, Strathbogie

Over in Australia, which, until the 2010/2011 season, had mostly been in drought since 2001, there are no industry-wide initiatives akin to the South Africa example. Though Amy Russell, recently the natural resource management coordinator at the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia and now consultant to the industry via Naturalogic, said winemaking water issues now come under the aegis of the broad environment and wine –  EntWine – program.

She highlighted the logic for a co-ordinated watershed-wide strategy, saying that “for example, in 2008/09, South Australian irrigators were only able to access 16% of their allocation because of the lack of rainfall in the Murray-Darling river system from where their irrigation water is drawn.” Already, she added, private “farm dams must be licensed so that the government can ensure that the landholder isn’t storing too much water and reducing availability to other users in the catchment.”

Necessity being the mother of invention, specific water-reduction and conservation measures are already being adopted. Russell said “conversion to drip irrigation is largely complete, with research now turning to sub-surface irrigation as potentially even more efficient. Partial root-zone drying and regulated deficit irrigation are being used with some success. In the winery, water use efficiency practices include rainwater collection from shed roofs, wastewater treatment for re-use, trigger nozzles on hoses, and dry brushing to clean equipment prior to switching on the hose.”

This sort of reduction of water use in the winery is relevant the world over, and in France, Fitou co-operative Mont Tauch is a founding member of the ‘vinegrowers in sustainable development’ movement, a certified system of improving viticultural sustainability. Among the projects that form part of this certification are a limit on water consumption, and managing waste water. They found water to clean equipment is one of the biggest users of this resource, with a machine-harvester being an especially high user, so the co-op has installed a meter to track the total quantities of cleaning water used, and have started using a pressurised water jet to reduce usage.

Research by the French water agency has been monitoring water use in the area for the past ten years, and Mont Tauch has been involved for the last five years.  This has shown that their more sustainable viticulture has “had a positive impact on the quality and protection of water” according to Jerôme Collas, their vineyard manager, adding, “we’ve done fewer treatments, so less weed killer goes into the water”, and at their Montmal estate he added “we measured water usage two years ago.  And then put on restrictions to reduce usage, by using medium pressure rather than high pressure.”

Pushing the boundaries

As biodiversity goes beyond the perimeters of the property, so does water stewardship. It goes beyond the important parameters of reducing water use and treating waste water. With effective and sustainable water stewardship, downstream shouldn’t be the worst place to be.

Vines and veldt

The key initiatives, in terms of moving a little further along the path of sustainability, are the IPW (Integrated Production of Wine) and BWI (Biodiversity and Wine Initiative).  The new one – SWSA (Sustainable Wine South Africa) – allies these two and links into the authority that governs and approves South African wine – the Wine Standards Board.  

The Board is responsible for the wine of origin scheme, which confirms the vintage, variety and South African origin of the wine. A seal is printed on every bottle of South African wine that conforms to the wine of origin scheme. 

From the 2010 vintage the Board will also confirm which wines have been made by certified IPW producers. A new, ‘sustainability’ seal exists to show conformance to IPW.  To qualify for the new seal every part of the production process must be IPW accredited – the farm/vineyard, the winery and the bottling plant. The new sustainability seal is only available to wines bottled in South Africa.

Wine of origin seal

Any wines not made to the certified IPW standards will continue to use the wine of origin seal. 

Su Birch, the CEO of Wines of South Africa, the organisation that promotes South African wine in export markets, said SWSA took its inspiration from ‘hannuwa’, the “heritage of the bushmen, who gathered good fortune by living in harmony with nature, and by not harvesting more than nature could replenish each year.”  

Birch added “we believe 50% of wines will go out with this seal in 2010, and over 80% by the 2011 vintage.”  The aim, she added of the voluntary scheme, “is to make it compulsory.”  

The industry-wide IPW scheme has been running since 1998.  It is similar to integrated farm management schemes that exist in Europe, in that it aims to reduce industrial inputs into the farming (in this case vine growing) system, reduce carbon emissions and introduce a more integrated approach to pest management, health and safety of workers, conservation of biodiversity, and treatment of waste water. The scheme requires accurate record keeping of actions in the vineyards.  

Sustainability seal

The compliance of these records is now being independently audited every three years by a third party.  Given that this scheme has been running for 12 years, Birch said “producers are finding a reduction in input costs as natural predators return.” And, she said, most of the industry already complies with IPW.

As more information on sustainability comes into the knowledge sphere, “IPW is constantly evolving with new elements introduced” said Jo Wehring, the UK market manager of Wines of South Africa, adding “so it never really stands still. Measuring and reporting on carbon will be introduced in the next stage, then we can look at how to reduce it. And the ‘pass’ mark is increasing, in 2008 a pass was 55%, in 2009 it was 60% and this year it’s 65%.”

Whilst there are some biodiversity guidelines in the IPW accreditation, producers can achieve IPW conformance – and get the new sustainability seal – without being part of the biodiversity and wine initiative. This separate BWI scheme, which has operated since 2004, exists for more comprehensive biodiversity and conservation in the Cape winelands.

This is particularly important in South Africa because the Cape Floral Kingdom, a biodiversity hotspot, is the smallest and richest plant kingdom on the planet, achieving World Heritage Site recognition in 2004.  It accounts for just 0.5% of the area of Africa yet is home to 20% of the continent’s flora.  And this region is where virtually all of South Africa’s wine production originates, so linking the two makes good sense, especially as 80% of the Cape Floral Kingdom is privately owned.

BWI - bottom left

Birch said the BWI “came about because we grow our wine in a special environment.” The aim here is to put aside land within the Cape winelands for conservation and reversion to indigenous flora.

The BWI already has 113,000 hectares under conservation status on wine farms.  There are 101,000 hectares of vineyard in South Africa, so this is a better than 1:1 ratio.  The top tier of BWI members, fifteen BWI champions, including Paul Cluver, Delheim, Oak Valley and Vergelegen, have committed more than 10% of their farms to conservation. 

As well as the new sustainability seal, individual producer labels may have details of their BWI status as well, so checking wine bottles closely will reveal degrees of increasing sustainability.

Understanding the cooler aspects of the South African climate is complicated. South Africa’s climate is undoubtedly warm Mediterranean and hot continental.  But that’s only part of the story. There are a number of cooling influences, most notably those from both proximitous oceans, giving some validity to the old adage that if a vineyard can see the sea, it’s a good vineyard.

Lambert's Bay, Atlantic Coast

When the various cooling influences are combined with precise viticultural techniques and pristine winemaking, a sometimes quite remarkable new world expression of coolness appears in the wines.

In the search for cool climate, some have tried to come up with sound bite definitions and Charles Back of Fairview was succinct with his “cool climate is where grapes take a month longer to ripen than traditional areas such as Stellenbosch and Paarl … in Darling they’re harvesting chardonnay at the end of February, and they were finished in Paarl a month before.”

Andrew Gunn at Iona in Elgin agreed, saying “to me the proof of the pudding is in the grapes, and picking date. You can’t claim to be cool climate if you’re picking sauvignon blanc in Jan or February” before moving onto a stylistic element “cool climate wines are more elegant, more restrained.”

Winds and coastal proximity

Constantia and Walker Bay are the traditionally-regarded ‘cooler’ climate regions in the South African paradigm. Both are close to the cooling effect of the oceans, so as the land heats up during the day, air rises, sucking in cooler ocean air, the effect of which can be felt up to 15km inland.

Dr. Victoria Carey, at the department of viticulture and oenology, University of Stellenbosch, said: “the sea breezes cool on two levels:  humid air, and air movement which prevents a build-up of heat. Closer to the coast, the cooling effect is by way of the humid air, even to the Bottelary Hills. By Stellenbosch, [about 20km from the coast] the breeze has lost most of its humidity, but there is still air movement.” 

Over Elim vineyards, Indian Ocean coast

There is also differential cooling according to the current of influence.  Pioneer vineyards are popping up along the west coast, north of Cape Town. The Antarctic-origin Benguela current that sweeps up the west coast is said by locals to be icy (though ‘quite warm’ to a northern European perception), varying between about 10°C and 15°C, and is cited as bringing about a 5 to 7°C cooling. This is cooler than the Agulhas current that sweeps southwards from equatorial parts down the east coast of Africa then westwards around False Bay. The temperature of Agulhas varies from 14°C to 26°C, with a suggested 3 to 5°C cooling for areas within its breath.

Then there is the renowned south-easterly Cape Doctor, more prevalent during spring and summer, which both cools the vineyards, and inhibits disease development.

Even though the South African vineyards are at similar latitudes to those in Australia, Argentina and Chile, Dawid Saayman, a soil specialist for Distell, said: “we’re cooler because of the oceans. In South Africa we’re a pimple sticking out in the ocean.” Carey cited Valérie Bonnardot’s study of South African sea breezes which found the maximum temperature of coastal areas is lower than inland, and the maximum temperature happens earlier in the day, adding that temperatures can drop by as much as 6 or 7°C within two hours.   

The wind theme is well worked by Cape Point Vineyards, on the south west facing slopes below Constantiaberg. Winemaker Duncan Savage admitted “cool is a relative word. You can never have a vintage and not expect a heatwave.” But, he added “where we have not done bunch exposure, we’ve got green flavours” highlighting the need to manage the effects of the regular south-easterly winds from False Bay which are persistent enough to damage the ends of the vine rows facing head-on into the wind so it blows down the whole row.

Aspect, altitude and attitude

Proximity to the oceans is evidently a big part of this, and in the post-quota era vineyards have been vying to be closest, with Fryer’s Cove, just 800m from and 20m above the Atlantic Ocean pretty well-placed for the nearest. 

Cederberg, 1,000m up

The topography of the Cape is as complex as the mesoclimatic picture.  In Elgin, for example, which is surrounded by mountains, the winds bring welcome cloud cover. Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen, owner of Oak Valley, said: “the cooling south easterly prevailing wind in summer brings cloud cover in the valley.  The cloud cover gets trapped against the mountains and it can be 10°C cooler than Somerset West.  This is a regular occurrence and a major contributor to our climatic opportunity.”   

Over on the west coast, one hour north of Cape Town, fogs come rolling in 5 to 10km towards Darling, the new darling region of sauvignon blanc. Back said they are “seaward facing vineyards, with breezes off the coast. We get 5-6° C lower than [Paarl], and the temperature drops dramatically overnight.”

Bruce Jack of Constellation’s Flagstone said: “In South Africa we have more wind than any other grape growing country, both speed and volume. At our farm in Overberg, the farm’s hottest time of day is abut 11.30am.  We’re at 400m, up against a mountain. The wind goes up the mountain, cools and comes down again. The farm is at 24°C instead of 30°+ if there was no wind chill.”

At 1,000m above sea level, Cederberg exemplifies the cooling effect of altitude, where high altitude also gives high diurnals.  It became wholly a wine farm just in 1997.  Owner David Nieuwoudt said: “there are no heatwaves up here.  We don’t have to spray for downy mildew [as coastal vineyards need to do].  Our normal night time temperature is below 10°C even in summer, and the day time temperature can reach 30°C, giving a 20 to 25°C difference between day and night” which enables the grapes to retain natural acidity.

In Constantia, it’s the mountains again that provide relief, both in terms of aspect and shade. Constantiaberg itself is over 900m. Its height means the sun has gone over top of mountain, shrouding the east-facing vineyards in shade, while vineyards further east such as in Stellenbosch, and Simonsberg continue to receive another 1-2 hours sunshine.

Combine this with an afternoon breeze for extra cooling, as Lowell Jooste of Klein Constantia said: “we’re 7 km from the sea [at False Bay]. The afternoon breezes cool the south-facing slope by 4 to 5°C. And at 300m the altitude is also significant, as we’re exposed to the south-east wind at higher altitude.”  He added “sunlight hours are another thing here. We have significantly less sunlight at end of day as sun sets over the hill [Constantiaberg], but we still have day light for photosynthesis to continue.” 

Steenberg to False Bay

It’s a similar story at Steenberg, a couple of kilometres closer to False Bay, where wind and aspect are again important factors.  John Loubser, their winemaker and general manager, said: “we face east for the morning sun. But by 5.30pm the sun is ducking behind the mountain. We can see Stellenbosch getting another 1.5 hours of sun.”  

It’s not all about being high altitude or sitting in the shadow of altitude. In more coastal areas, closeness to sea level to maximise the winds. In Elim, which is, according to Nieuwoudt, “by far the coolest spot in South Africa, where you don’t buy land you buy wind.”   Dirk Human, Black Oystercatcher’s owner confirmed this, saying “We get wind 400 [exaggeration intended] days a year. We have ocean on three sides. If we didn’t have wind we’d be a hot climate. Wind puts the characters in the grapes.”

Whatever the aspect and altitude, attention to detail in the field can moderate a warm climate, or take advantage of cooling winds, as at Cape Point Vineyard. “With successfully manipulated viticulture” said Chris Keet of Christopher Keet Wines, “you can sidestep the issue of cool climate.” Greater shading to protect fruit, row orientation to maximise the benefit of breezes or minimise exposure to the sun are all warmer climate techniques to offset the warmth. Gyles Webb at Thelema agreed that “canopy is the single most important thing in the vineyard.”

Pocketing the difference

Given the complex topography, there are plenty of cooler south (poleward)-facing slopes in all locations which are becoming more popular. Eben Archer the viticulturist at Lusan Premium Wines said: “we’re looking for the cool situations. The best we can do is talk about cool pockets.”

Charles Back supported this, saying “you can find enclaves within both Stellenbosch and Paarl where fruit ripens a month later, for example in the Bottelary Hills, also in Helderberg near where Vergelegen is.” And at Delheim winemaker Brenda van Niekerk said “our coolest slope is at Klapmutskop, directly south facing at 320m above sea level. There’s always a slight breeze. The sauvignon blanc has more green flavours, a little grassy, so I leave it hanging. In Stellenbosch it’s not easy to find these spots.”

Viticultural pockets may be the new South African mantra.  Nieuwoudt summed it up: “we’re a hot climate wine producing region and we must concentrate on what we do best. But there are great pockets, for example 5km from [his Cederberg property] it’s 5°C warmer. If we can explore these pockets, if places such as Elim can fine tune their wines, they’ll make phenomenal wines. It will take a while to get to this point.”

Topography: the basis for terroir

The Cape’s ancient geomorphology underwrites its terroir. A complex geological history with several periods of sea flooding and tectonic mountain-building activity ended about 550 million years ago, with further uplifting and folding 250 million years ago. This has given rise to three main bedrock ‘foundations’, underlying diverse soils, topography and geology over short distances.

Dr Victoria Carey, at the University of Stellenbosch, said: “the basement is of Malmesbury shales – sedimentary rocks.  There was a period of granite intrusions. After an orogenic period, the sandstones were laid down.  Since the Pre-Cambrian, mountains have a sandstone cap, and granite, shale at the bottom.”

• Remnants of Malmesbury shales and schists (1bn to 600m years) are hills of 20m to 200m such as in Swartland.  Shales often surround granite instrusions and undulating hills.
• Granite intrusions (600 and 500m years) include Paarl and Paardeberg mountains, Bottelary Malmesbury and Darling Hills, as well as granitic foothills of sandstone mountains e.g. Table mountain, Stellenbosch mountain, Hottentots Holland, Helderberg, Simonsberg.
• Deposition of the Cape Supergroup, including the Table Mountain sandstones (400 to 300m years) were originally overlain on eroded shales and granite intrusions, and has itself been eroded to leave e.g. Table Mountain and Simonsberg on granite foothills.  

Though soils are derived from these three main rock types, different climates over geological time have complicated the picture further: tropical soils developed just past the Cambrian resulting in stable, weathered, acidic soils with few nutrients. And a Mediterranean climate developed after the Benguela current formed, with a different rainfall and weathering pattern.

South African wine regions showing traditional climate data, with European comparisons

There’s no Winkler region I in South Africa, which emphasises Winkler is useful only as a start point from which refinements and modifications need to be made to explore viticultural climate. Flagstone’s Bruce Jack said: “the Winkler definition of cool climate doesn’t work here, because it’s a sum of averages.” He’s got a point: take two examples from Winkler IV: Springfield (Robertson) has long made one of the zestiest and steeliest sauvignon blancs from South Africa, and Cederberg (Cederberg) makes pristine wines from varieties not traditionally associated with Winkler IV.  

Sources:                  Wines of South Africa                                        
                                Viticulture and Environment by John Gladstones                                         
                                NB: values from different sources may not be directly comparable.

This article was researched during a visit to South Africa in March 2009, sponsored by Wines of South Africa.

Shiraz in the Bot River

Shiraz has seen something of an explosive growth in South Africa.  Plantings have increased from 2% of the vineyard area just over a decade ago, to 10% today. It is now the fourth most planted variety in South Africa, after chenin blanc, cabernet sauvignon and colombard. Sauvignon blanc and chardonnay are next.   

Part of this rapid increase is a wider trend to grow more ‘international’ varieties -  chenin blanc is coming down – not surprising considering it used to comprise one-third of the vineyard area less than a generation ago, now down to less than 20% –  as well as colombard in the whites. Merlot and cabernet sauvignon are on the up, but not near the growth rate of shiraz, which has really become the flavour of the month.

Another part of the trend is the changing political situation in South Africa.  Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, the generic promotional organisation, pointed out just how young the industry is in real terms saying: “until 1992 you couldn’t plant grapes unless you had a quota from the KWV (a co-operative established in 1918 to stabilise the industry). And you could only export through the KWV. There was a pool of cheap and cheerful wines and 85% of the vineyard was colombard and chenin blanc.  In 1994 we achieved democracy. So we are only a 15 year old industry, and had to drag ourselves up from a low position.” 

The achievement of democracy has allowed producers to break out of traditional wine-growing regions and explore brand new ones, many of which are towards the coast – of both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and others have sought increasing altitude, not just for shiraz, but for other varieties too, notably sauvignon blanc.

Of course shiraz loves warmer climates, and South Africa has plenty of those, and this is one of the reasons it is thought to have so much potential in the country. It’s in these traditional regions where the earlier shiraz plantings are – Swartland, Paarl and Stellenbosch. One of the things that is new within the warmer regions is a trend to smaller scale production, with lower yields and more terroir-related results. People like Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines were one of the early ones, at the turn of the millennium, to make wines of acclaim in Swartland, with his Columella blend of mainly shiraz with some mourvèdre. 

Swartland, 50 miles north east of Cape Town, has seen a boom for shiraz. Prices were relatively inexpensive in this pretty hot, dry climate, which gets some differences in vineyard climate due to its relative proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, and this encouraged new winemakers wanting to make a name for themselves. Stalwart of the region though, with more than 60 years experience, is the Swartland Winery, representing 200 growers, and bringing in fruit from a 20 mile radius, which gives enough fruit character differences to offer interesting blending opportunities.

Sorting shiraz berries at Saronsberg

A little further inland,  to the north-east, is Tulbagh, with a continental climate, dry and hot during the day, though differences in day and night-time temperatures are also quite marked. Here, Saronsberg, whose first vintage was 2004, have more recently being making medal-winning shiraz. The shiraz 2006 won Gold at the Veritas and Double Gold at the Michaelangelo Awards in South Africa, and their Full Circle 2006 (shiraz, mourvèdre, viognier) also got Gold at Veritas and five stars (the maximum) in the UK’s Decanter magazine tasting.

Their winemaker, Dewaldt Heyns explained their rapid success: “It’s hot and we’ve adapted to the area. We’ve worked against the heat and abundant sunshine by changing row direction, the canopy system and trellising height and by lowering yield.” 

Given how recent is the surge in shiraz plantings, the vines at Saronsberg are quite old by comparison with many at an envious 10-12 years old, just coming into their prime. This no doubt plays a part in the consistent success the winery has had with their past few vintages, and Heyns added: “We want to create stunning wines. Our wines are fairly big and bold with a measure of elegance. We work with skins but we de-stem everything.  Our biggest bonus which helps a lot is our hand-sorting system, we have tight selection, and yields are very low, about 28 to 32 hl/ha.

“We also pre-cool the grapes before start anything. We take the temperature down very quickly; we were the first cellar in South Africa to use this system and we feel it helps with quality.” Of course he said “we pick early morning, and are finished by 9am.”

Saronsberg is making shiraz something of a speciality, and the variety accounts for 40% of their plantings. In trying to identify the reasons for their success, Heyns said: “we try to take all the small things you can do to make a better wine.  Each contributes a small amount, and you just need 1 or 2% to elevate the quality level to something different.”

La Motte's Edmund Terblanche

Saronsberg are the boutique end of things.  Total production is just 12,000 cases. But a different approach is that of La Motte.  They were an estate, meaning they could only use fruit grown on their property in Franschhoek, but they de-regulated which allows them to buy fruit from any wine-producing area in the country. As Edmund Terblanche, their winemaker, said: “this where the future lies – there’s too much diversity [in South Africa] to harvest just from one wine-farm.”  This is certainly something with which Australia is familiar.

It was in 2002, said Terblanche “that we decided to go for shiraz more, and make different styles.” It has become something of a flagship variety for them. They bought another vineyard 60 miles away in Bot River, near Walker Bay and these two wine-farms supply the bulk of La Motte’s needs. But said Terblanche “we also get fruit from Darling, Wellington, and Paarl, and lately we’re looking for more cool-climate grapes from emerging areas such as Elim.”

Terblanche is also the chairman of the Shiraz Association in South Africa, a group that hopes to emulate the achievements of the Pinotage Association. It was only last October they formally got together, and they are yet to decide a corporate identity and website. But, Terblanche said “we have the potential to become a strong body. Shiraz is the second most planted red. There are over 700 labels for shiraz in South Africa, yet in 1992 there were just 50. And South Africa is the fourth biggest producer of shiraz in the world.”

The defining moment for South Africa that the world knows was the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990. Four years later the rainbow nation achieved democracy.

As far as South Africa’s wine industry is concerned, it may well have the longest viticultural history of all the new world countries, with wine first being made there in 1659, during the times when the Cape was a stopover trading and refuelling post on the great sea routes. But the latest liberating chapter in the country’s renewal was the early 1990s scrapping of a quota system which dictated what was grown and where it was grown.  And exports were freed up once the old controlling state co-operative was privatised in 1997. 

Flying by Elim vineyards, Indian Ocean

Since then it seems that everyone has been fleeing to the coasts and the cooling coastal breezes to find new and different places to grow grapes.  A big chunk of the vineyard is already ‘within sight’ of the oceans – the saying goes if you can see the ocean it’s a good place for a vineyard, presumably because of those cooling breezes, though quite how far inland they reach and actively moderate the vineyard climate is not always clear.

Closer to the coast there’s no argument, leaves waft in afternoon breezes. And with this great proximity to the oceans, Cape South Africans can satisfy two great passions simultaneously: making wine, with sauvignon blanc most definitely being flavour of the moment, and messing about on the water, in this case rather serious water in the guise of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. In the decade since 1997, sauvignon blanc plantings have increased from 5 to 8% of the vineyard area. And sauvignon blanc goes pretty well with fresh and simply prepared fish.

But there’s much more to Cape cuisine than fish, and Stellenbosch, at about 20 km from the sea, is the heart of the Cape Winelands, and nearby wineries long ago took the lead to offer local foods with the local wines.  Indeed Delheim, less than 10 minutes from the town, were one of the earliest down this route when they started serving cheese platters in 1976. 

The view from Delheim

Proprietor Nora Sperling-Thiel said they “started serving food as guests arrived in middle of day and were looking for something to eat, so we kept it simple with fresh farm bread cheese and paté. At the time we were the only farm with a restaurant and served 50 guests at a time but did two sittings a day in high season.” Now they have a busy lunchtime restaurant serving local food to accompany their wines. Their Pinotage rosé has become something of a legend in its own lifetime. 

A little further toward Paarl, Fairview has built on its long association with homemade cheeses as well as wine. Four years ago owner Charles Back turned his old winery into The Goat Shed, a breakfast and lunchtime restaurant that’s packed to the rafters at weekends. The dirt paddock at the front has become tailored lawns dressed with tables and chairs immediately next to the closest vineyards.

To keep some of the winery feel, and to break up the large space, Charles said: “we cut out the concrete tanks by three quarters. And” he said “we wanted to use local people, and the kids of the farm workers. It took a lot of training, it took us a year to come out of the woods” while new staff got to grips with the service culture and the professionalism required to efficiently wait tables.  And no surprise given the restaurant has more than 200 covers.  Charles added that having the restaurant meant his “finger is on the pulse, because it elevates wine into the food environment. You have to focus on where you’re going; and you have a product testing-ground on site.”  

A Fairview Goat

As well as the Fairview range, Back also makes the Goats do Roam and Spice Route ranges, so the restaurant has plenty of opportunity to test plenty of products. With so many wines, Back sources fruit from some of the newer vineyard plantings, and his Spice Route sauvignon blanc comes from the Darling region, an hour’s drive north of Cape Town, about 10km inland from the Atlantic Ocean, which he said: “is a seaward facing vineyard, getting breezes off the coast. The vineyard gets 5-6°C lower than [Paarl], and the harvest is about a month later.”  This later ripening helps preserve some of the typical zesty and grassy characters in sauvignon blanc.

Futher up the West Coast, about 300km north of Cape Town, is an even more recently planted vineyard area, around Lambert’s Bay, where the Sir Lambert property can be found, and Fryer’s Cove, lying another half an hour north on a dirt track. Both are producing light, zesty, grass and lemongrass style sauvignon blancs, which are back on track with the local fish at the key attraction of the region, the Muisbosskerm restaurant, an all-South African experience.

View from Muissbosskerm

The Muisbosskerm is as close to the Atlantic coast as it’s possible to get … being on the beach. It takes its name from temporary shelters made from the local mouse bush plant. The restaurant started out feeding family and friends, but it’s been a highlight on the tourist trail for many years, and it’s the clients who have to turn up on time for the freshest straight-from-the-ocean fish. Those local sauvignon blancs match well the atmosphere and the open-grilled and baked kingklip, hake, crayfish, snoek, steenbras and Cape salmon fish braai, whatever’s in season. The traditional stickily-sweet sweet potato somehow works well as one of the accompaniments.

In 2009, the South African wine industry celebrated its 350^th birthday, but it’s the freshness of the last decade that’s getting folk really excited as producers carve out a new identity for the 21^st century.

This article was inspired by a visit to the Cape winelands in March 2009, sponsored by Wines of South Africa.

In the last decade (barely the blink of an eye in viticultural terms) something’s been going on around the coastline of South Africa’s Western Cape, where the winelands are concentrated.

Sauvignon blanc at Cederberg

The old bureaucratic control boards were disbanded in the mid 1990s, which meant that suddenly, growers could plant grapes wherever they wanted, and there’s been a rush to the coasts to find the most maritime-influenced climates possible. 

The variety being planted in these cooler coastal regions is mostly sauvignon blanc. And the flavours in the wines suggest the Kiwis will finally have some competition on the cards for their Marlborough ‘savvies’.  

South Africa might be warm to hot in climatic terms, but a combination of moderating maritime and near-maritime influence, plus some skilful management of the vine canopy to shade grape bunches from the heat, while allowing in light for photosynthesis, has resulted in wines with a range of flavours from green-grassy herbaceousness, through zesty citrus fruit, figs and asparagus, into more tropical guava and passionfruit flavours, all with a steely core of freshening acidity vibrating up their backbones.  Exactly the sort of stuff we love in the UK, and can’t get enough of from the Kiwis.

One of the things that is making these flavours possible is the cold ocean current called the Benguela current which runs up the west coast of Africa.  It’s travelled all the way from the Antarctic. This helps cool down temperatures near the coast.  Fryer’s Cove vineyard, 300km north of Cape Town, is right on the windy Atlantic coast, just a few hundred metres from the ocean, while the Darling Hills, about 75km north of Cape Town, are more like 10km inland, and wine producers say they still get cooling westerly breezes coming off the ocean.

Elsewhere, Elgin is about an hour’s drive east of Cape Town. It’s a natural bowl, surrounded on all sides by mountains, and is a heartland of apple and pear production.  And now wine. With lots of sauvignon blanc. Elgin Vintners’ sauvignon blanc comes from fruit grown on the undulating valley floor, while Iona’s vineyards are higher on the southern-boarding mountain slopes, nearest to the ocean and both have pristine flavours.

Wind here is also a big feature helping to cool the temperatures, with the typical afternoon southwesterlies cooling the vine climate by 4-5°C up to 15km inland, depending on the local topography, which is pretty hilly. As the land heats up during the day, air rises, pulling in cool breezes off the oceans. But, to liberally mix metaphors, the proof of the pudding is in the wine: see what your think of these:

Majestic: Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Groenekloof, Darling Hills £9.99 when you buy 2 bottles
Stone, Vine & Sun : Fryer’s Cove, Sauvignon Blanc 2008, West Coast, £9.95  
Tesco: Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Elgin, £9.99
Waitrose: Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Elgin, £9.99

The Cap Classique Quality Commitment

This is our pledge/commitment to maintain the highest standards of grape selection, hand-crafted when making, blending and aging the wine on the lees, in keeping with the traditions of this method.

Individual base wines and blends are tasted annually/regularly by the Association’s own members to ensure that the final wine is of a high quality standard.

The Cap Classique Association is committed to the following minimum quality standards:

1.  Grapes are selected from a diversity of regions of the Cape and the different soil types ensures a wide range of aromas and flavours leading to style differentiation and individualism.

2.  Any white and red grapes varieties are permitted to be used to ensure delicate fruit and rich complexity.

3.  Grape selection in the vineyard ensures that only perfect and healthy grapes come to the cellar for vinification. These grapes are only hand-picked.

4.  Whole bunch pressing is recommended to ensure low phenolic content and minimum colour pigment in the juice, used for the base wine preparation.

5.  When pressing the whole bunches, careful selection and separation of the quality juice from the press juice fraction are done for better blending opportunities.

6.  Fermentation of the base wine is done in temperature controlled vessels but could also be fermented in small oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation could be considered or not depending on the style of wine.

7.  Reserve wines may be used from time to time to maintain specific styles during the blending of the different cuvees prior to the secondary fermentation in the bottle.

8.  Every bottle of Cap Classique is matured on the yeast for a minimum yeast contact time of 12 months and minimum of 3 Bars of pressure. The bottles ferment and mature in a horizontal position for maximum yeast exposure and in cool conditions. There are individual members who ensure much longer yeast contact period, depending on the style and vintage.

9.  After riddling and disgorgement Cap Classique wines are left on the cork for some time to ensure integration and balance prior to labelling and dispatch.

10.  The Association has developed their own Cap Classique logo and members have the right to use the logo on the packaging or elsewhere to endorse their serious commitment to quality and the improvement of standards.

It all started with Simonsig Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, who made the first traditional method sparkler in 1968, releasing it in 1971, and who were the first to have the three traditional grape varieties used to make Champagne: pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier.

Table Mountain

Cap classique is a pretty niche product, about 2.5 million bottles being made each year. Compare that with Champagne’s approximate 400 million bottle production.  Nonetheless it’s an exciting category, as Alec Louw, the commercial manager for Graham Beck Wines explained: “there are a lot of new producers making cap classique, it’s really growing.” Indeed, exports of total bubblies (all methods), nearly doubled last year compared to 2007. 

By the early 1980s, Villiera had arrived on the traditional method sparkling scene. Co-proprietor Cathy Brewer said they were the first to make cap classique on a commercial scale in 1984, and this style now accounts for more than 40% of their business. She said “for ten years we paid royalties to a French winemaker, Jean-Louis Denois,” a chap who has a strong reputation for sparkling production, which gave them a head-start in the quality stakes.

Into the next decade and Graham Beck’s first sparkling vintage was in 1991. Sparkling wine had been the idea behind their Robertson property where the focus is solidly on sparkling production of pinot noir and chardonnay on the limestone soils. Louw added “sparkling wine is our calling card. About 40% of our business is sparkling.”   

By 1992, an association of producers was created to promote cap classique sparkling wines. There are now more than sixty members, though a producer does not need to be a member of the association to put cap classique on the label. The advantages of membership include a group tasting of base wines where members give and receive feedback, as well as a collective marketing mass. 

There are agreed minimum quality standards, which so far form a voluntary code. Though Pieter Ferreira, cellar master at Graham Beck, and secretary of the Cap Classique Producers’ Association said: “The only criterion monitored by certification is the time on the lees (12 months) and that the wine should have a minimum of 3 bars of pressure.”  He added “we are currently investigating a possible two-tier commitment charter, where we will have a higher level than the standard quality commitment. I believe every improvement we make is one step in the right direction for quality and that we are a great alternative to anything else.”

Cape Winelands

With most consumption being on the domestic market Brewer said: “In our climate, fresh and citrusy flavours are good.” In the wines tasted below, strong autolysis characters were generally not overt, and this fresher, fruitier style of traditional bubbly is a widely appealing one, as savoury, yeasty, leesy characters can be an acquired taste.

Tasting notes

Here are my tasting notes from a few cap classique wines I tasted at a recent generic tasting. The producers below make other cuvées, and there are more then 60 producers in South Africa making traditional method bubblies.

All the bubblies tasted were between 11.5 and 12.5% alcohol, which helps keep them fresh and refreshing.  This alcohol level is similar to Cava and Champagne.

There are a couple of new rosé products in this line up.  Certainly for the UK market, we like bubbly, we like pink, so anything pink and bubbly is sure to have a good start.

Boschendal Le Grand Pavilion Rosé NV
15% chardonnay, rest pinotage, shiraz, pinot noir
12 months on lees
A new product.  Fresh attack, strawberries, gentle mouthfeel, crunchy fruit in full-flavoured style.

Graham Beck Brut NV
60% chardonnay, 40% pinot noir
18 months on lees.
Lemon toast, lemon curd, fine soft mousse, but not very persistent. Fresh citrus flavours, honest and balanced.

Graham Beck Brut Rosé NV
55% chardonnay, 45% pinot noir
18 months on the lees
Bit more time on pinot noir skins, for colour. Fresh strawberries, hints of bread dough, full flavour, good intensity of strawberry. Widely appealing upfront fruity flavours, balance giving rounded mouthfeel.

Môreson Cuvee Cape NV
80% pinotage, 20% chenin blanc
Deep lemon colour, big mousse, big flavour, bit short.

Môreson Blanc de Blancs NV
90% chardonnay, 10% chenin blanc
Citrus and cream, fresh, full body, rich and full creamy textured. Fine mousse with a bit of mid palate biscuit and good length.

Môreson Brut Rose 2005
80% pinotage, 20% chardonnay
Dark pink colour, overt strawberry compote, not very subtle, big mousse also not particularly fine.

Morgenhof Brut Reserve 2005
60% chardonnay, 40% pinot noir
24 months on lees
Deep lemon colour, rich toast with butter, oil, nuttiness and savoury notes, which give away the fact that half the wine underwent a malo-lactic in French oak barrel. Full-bodied, still with some lemon-freshness, and the oil a back texture.  It’s not a refreshing aperitif style.

Pongrácz Brut NV  (made by Distell)
60% pinot noir, 40% chardonnay
18 to 24 months on lees
Fresh, light biscuit palate, with citrus and strawberry; zesty and uplifting.

Pongrácz Rosé NV (made by Distell)
A new product.  Pale salmon colour, not so much autolysis character, fresh and strawberry; attractive and refreshing in an easy way.

Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2007
58% pinot noir, 39% chardonnay, 3% pinot meunier
15 to 24 months on lees;
Butter biscuits, fresh acidity, nice rounded flavoursome palate, red berry foam and savoury almond notes; good balance with noticeable refinement and decent length.

Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rosé 2007
90% pinotage, 10% pinot noir
Fairly deep pink, broad palate, quite rustic.  

Villiera Tradition Brut NV
2/3rds pinot noir and pinotage, 1/3^rd chardonnay
18 months on lees
Hint gunsmoke, strawberry and redcurrants, allspice note, persistent mousse, citrus peel on mid palate, nice balance and density with good length.

Villiera Tradition Rosé Brut NV
2/3rds pinotage, rest pinot noir and chardonnay
18 months on lees
Deep salmon, rich gentle spice, hint savoury and broad.

Democracy liberated the industry from the shackles of the past including trade sanctions, which also meant that high quality new planting material was hard to come by, and a brandy-distillation focused grape growing trade, rather than light wine. International travel, the lifeblood of cross-fertilisation of ideas and skills in a global wine industry had also been inhibited prior to democracy.

A defining moment occurred two years prior to democracy with the ending of the quota system.

Cederberg vineyards

To backtrack momentarily, at the turn of the 20^th century, the South African wine industry was in poor state of affairs with both wine surplus and attacks of devastating phylloxera. So in 1918, the KWV co-operative was set up to stabilise the industry. A quota system was later introduced which limited the number of vines a producer could grow. This meant the KWV, as operators of the quota, controlled the size of crop, the grape varieties planted, and the location of grapes.  It was not something that encouraged quality improvement, because minimum prices were guaranteed for grape products.

Abandoning the quota system in 1992 allowed a freer market to develop. Vines could be planted anywhere someone thought they could successfully make wine. The playing field was levelled further in 1997, when the KWV was privatised.

As a result, in the last 15 years, new wine-growing regions have been popping up all over the place in the Cape, outside the traditional areas of Stellenbosch, Paarl, Constantia and Robertson. For example, Cederberg, high up in the mountains; Lambert’s Bay, tight against the Atlantic coast; Elim, tight on the Indian Ocean; and further along the Indian Ocean coast, Plettenberg Bay, a good 500km as the crow flies from Cape Town. 

Generally, given that South Africa has a warm to hot Mediterranean climate, growers have sought less warm areas, and apple-growing territory such as that at Elgin, was an early opportunity. Those coastal pockets up the Atlantic and across the Indian Oceans are proving increasingly popular.

As a result of the shifting vineyards, the number of Wine of Origin (WO) designations has doubled since 1990, now heading towards 100.  The WO system specifies that fruit must come from the origin stated on the label, providing a guarantee of origin to consumers, much as the appellation system does in Europe.

Yet all this flight from traditional areas has not seen a massive expansion in vineyard area. Over the last five years the total vineyard area has settled at just over 100,000 hectares (ha). France, by comparison has 825, 000 ha, Australia 174,000 ha.

Diemersdal

However the structure of the country’s vineyard has changed almost beyond recognition, in terms of the grape varieties planted and the age of the vines. Twenty years ago, white grapes accounted for 85% of the vineyard area.  Now they account for just 56% as red grapes have taken firm root in the Cape. The top four reds – cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, merlot and pinotage between them are 35% of the total vineyard, though in the last few years only shiraz plantings are still growing, and then only just. Cabernet sauvignon plantings have increased three-fold, and shiraz plantings have gone from a just 1% 20 years ago to 10% today, an extraordinary increase, but one well borne-out by the warm and hot Mediterranean climate that favours shiraz/syrah. Even merlot plantings have doubled in the last decade.

On the white front, chenin blanc, which in 1990 represented a third of the vineyard area, is now less than 20%. And very much flavour of the moment, sauvignon blanc, plantings have doubled to nearly 10%.  It is the historical, less good quality grape varieties that are being ripped out, the likes of crouchen, palomino, clairette, and lesser known varieties, to make way for international grape varieties that have a considerably better export potential.

All this uprooting and replanting in recent years means about 50% of the South Africa’s vineyard is less than 10 years old, which by old world standards, is thought to be significant tipping point for improved wine quality. So things augur well for those producers already doing well from their young fruit.

A decade ago, the buzz was around Cape Blends – usually Bordeaux blends (cabernet sauvignon/merlot) with some of the Cape’s indigenous pinotage blended in. Warwick Estate’s Three Cape Ladies (the current 2005 vintage being 38% cabernet sauvignon; 25% pinotage; 22% shiraz and 15% merlot) is one of my favourite examples of the genre.

Now, the buzz is all around pristine, grassy-tropical-combo sauvignon blanc from relatively cooler, coastal sites, as well as around different expressions of shiraz/syrah, according to location. There’s been some ‘rediscovery’ of older vineyard pockets, for example around Paardeberg and Malmesbury in Swartland, about 70km north and a tad east of Cape Town, where the likes of Sadie Family Vinyards, Scali, The Observatory and Lammershoek lie, alongside the Swartland co-op which has being going for more than 60 years. 

Luddite, Bot River

Additionally the opening up of newer, less warm, sites is offering a stylistic difference, with more black pepper spice notes, floral violets and blackcurrant fruit. Cederberg first planted shiraz in 1999 and have developed a nice reputation for theirs. Diemersdal in Durbanville have a good commercial version. Luddite in Walker Bay only makes shiraz and their 2005 is a big, nicely-structured wine. It’s still evolving, but some producers are adopting the ‘syrah’ moniker for the ‘cooler’ examples and ‘shiraz’ for the warmer, full-blooded versions.

So much else is still evolving in viticulturally emancipated South Africa.

This article was inspired by a visit to the region in March 2009 sponsored by Wines of South Africa.