It was a dark and stormy night, and I was at a gaudy Polish wedding as the skies broke, unleashing havoc. The date, to be exact, was 4 March 2023. And while the Poles downed frozen vodka shots, boding the groom and bride well with guttural cries of well-wishes in their abrasive native lingo, I was worrying about the rain and vineyards. Reason being, the wedding in question was at Newton Johnson Vineyards in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, and pelting, relentless rain of that nature could, surely, not be good for the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and other grapes hanging on the vines, days before harvest.

The signs of a potential vinous disaster were there for all to see, even if you were Polish and had just taken your 11^th shot of bison grass vodka.

Reflecting on vintage 2023 in the three Hemel-en-Aarde wards, it was a sodden affair. About 300mm of rain fell in the last week of February and first week of March alone, bursting ripe fruit, diluting berries and making the harvesting process a mud-bath. But, being wine women and men of the Cape, trials and tribulations and challenges are there to be met and to be endured. To be engaged with, and to be managed. For the spirit is immortal, physical affronts being but passing.

So, harvesting schedules were re-assessed, and plans made. In the vintage of 2023, human thought and guile; imagination and ambition were for winemakers just as important as the wonts of nature that had led to those damply ripened grapes. Mud on the tracks, concern in the heart.

As fortune would have it, the rain-gods were sending down lashings of assertive precipitation during a recent visit to Newton Johnson Vineyards, although the Polish crowd were no longer there and this glorious piece of Upper Hemel-en-Aarde real estate had returned to its picturesque, pastoral tranquility. The rain was accompanied by an icy wind from the north-west, sending the thin, sombre grey clouds cantering down the valley and making the raw morning an ideal condition for drinking Pinot Noir, of which Newton Johnson is of this region’s finest producers.

Although there are a few wines to choose from in the winery’s Pinot Noir range, my go to is the Family Vineyards, the current offering of which is from the aforementioned stormy, daunting vintage 2023.

Newton Johnson Pinot Noir has a very characteristic profile in its deft balance between the delicate and the commanding. The address is a major factor, obviously. Granite soils and vines set from 200m above sea-level on north-east and south-east facing slopes, combined with the overriding cool climate one finds between four and eight kilometres from the sea, create intriguing multi-faceted geography where the vineyards are set.

Air-flows from the ocean in spring are off-set by still, days in summer which see the ripening grapes capture the sun’s heart, giving the ripe fruit a glow. The vines slope, too, between 12% and 16%, allowing for an interplay of sunlight radiation, resulting in a diverse palette of structures and personalities in the ripened grapes.

The earthly matter in which the Pinot Noir is grown here is complemented by the fact that the variety is a part of the human terroir, that other vital aspect of all great wineries. Pater familia and founder Dave Newton Johnson entered the wine-life largely due to his fascination with Pinot Noir, and the fixation lives on through his sons Gordon, winemaker, and Bevan, CEO and the brand’s voice in the market.

With the necessary boxes of agreed Cape Pinot Noir royalty ticked, it is thus no surprise finding the Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir from the disruptive 2023 vintage to be a superlative wine bearing the pedigreed typicity this winery has become renowned for.

On the nose there is a text-book ruffled, exotic waft of spice emanating from a secure line of late pink fruit blossoms, orchard like and life-affirming. The aroma, intoxicating, sets the scene in reminding one why there are, truly, only three types of wine: red, white and Pinot Noir. (Disclosure: the quote belongs to the great Danie de Wet.)

On the palate, concentration of fruit taste is palpable, yet the broad density of flavour is supported by tannin instead of being dominated by it – even in this wine’s relative youth. This feature says a lot about the raw material, as the stuff spends quite some time on the skins during maceration and spontaneous fermentation, some 25 days to be precise. Yet, the skins and pips are apparently of such a fragile, coy nature they gently sing tannin into the wine, instead of shouting it, allowing the verve and charm of pure, vivacious Pinot Noir fruit to come to the fore.

This makes the palate awash with warm, overripe strawberry offset by a slight pungent wad of damson. Cherry is there, too, but not the gob-puckering sour kind, just a hint of crispness and crunch among the expressive fruit character. It is awash in brilliant flavour and succulence, but what I always find in Newton Johnson Pinot Noir is a slight finely powdered dryness, just a tuft of withered fynbos to give the fruit an edge and to leave a pondering thought on the mind, and a wonder in the soul.

Things that, after all, Pinot Noir was made for, setting it poles apart from other wines.

The late Graham Beck, the larger than life, gruff and assertive founder of his eponymous Robertson winery, had a simple take on Chardonnay: “No wood, no good.” I’d disagree on this in terms of the Great Burgundian white grape, but when it comes to my favourite red grape variety – Cabernet Sauvignon – wood is all good. Especially new, unblemished barriques of French oak, spanking and virginal, their pale-straw coloured raw staves waiting to impart character, structure and taste on fine, just fermented Cabernet Sauvignon.

New wood has fallen out of favour in some wine circles. Wine critics began to diss it when they ran out of topics, insight and inspiration. Some winemakers, too, dismiss the use of new wood, implying that it “suppresses the true nuance of terroir”, and such bull-shit. Usually, these words come from winemakers who can’t afford new barrels, or whose newly fermented wine does not have enough going for it to stand-up to the beguiling, ethereal effects of virginal oak.

Everything I like about new wood is to be found in a majestic Cabernet Sauvignon from Tokara, namely the Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, a loftily priced wine found in this great Stellenbosch winery’s “gift” range. And gifted I was, this bottle being handed out last year at a lunch given by Tokara CEO Karl Lambour to celebrate the estate’s 20^th vintage.

The Simonsberg is – along with Helderberg – known as Stellenbosch’s great Cabernet Sauvignon region, its decomposed granite slopes dotted with the kind of superstar cellars to warrant this status. Tokara is definitely one of the finest here, Cabernet Sauvignon dominating its red offering with a number of really gorgeous wines, culminating in its big-hitting Telos that sells for five grand and some.

Tokara Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is, price-wise, well under the Telos at R1 850, but is also a true monument to the Tokara ethos of excellence, the farm’s top-of-the-Banghoek geography and the greatness of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape grown in Stellenbosch and, in the same breath, South Africa.

Sure, up there on the Simonsberg terroir is excellent and the viticulture characteristically detailed, but the wine’s greatness is also evident of winemaker Stuart Botha’s masterly knack with Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine’s distinctive fingerprint that is left on memory and in the soul is as much Botha’s as the site that is Tokara.

Grapes are given five days’ maceration after de-stemming and crushing, after which spontaneous fermentation takes hold of the juice and the flesh and the skins, and the Odyssey to greatness begins. This in stainless steel and foudre. The cap was punched-down through the fermenting juice, which also wetted the raft of grape-skins during pump-overs.

Post-fermentation, another period of maceration followed, allowing the wine a final hug of the grape-skins before they would be separated, the wine flowing into brand-new French barrels. Here, it would lie for 22 months in the pure offering of the Gallic oak forests, they deserving the wine as much as the wine warrants the pristine wood.

So, to the nose, and from the outset Tokara Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon hollers “Simonsberg”, being more maritime, rockier in its aromatic offering than the rich fruitier breaths whispered by Cabernets originating from Helderberg’s warmer, firmer-ripening slopes. It is dry grape-skins and fennel, with a turn of wet clay, the scents of purity and life uncluttered by all that new wood, this on account of the wine’s ability to embrace the oak instead of being overpowered by it.

It is truly beautiful on the palate, the wine’s initial austerity and frigid calm reminding one of a great Saint-Estèphe made in a golden warm year during which the morning Gironde spring mists sat on the vines, cool and true. Presence is all-encompassing and like a trumpet-solo by Chet Baker, the wine makes itself known in a proud, gaudy way which, like the call of the mythological sirens, is seductive in its alluring beauty.

Flavour begins to emerge, coyly. Fig-paste scattered next to a mirage of cool water and palm-trees. Mulberries struck to the ground by a hail-storm and eaten from the ice. Brambleberry juice, licked from a forefinger from which the prick of bramble thorn had drawn blood. And then, a line of salinity, arousing the fruit, complementing it and creating a sense of enticement precluding true deliciousness.

And in all this, tannins run long and fine and taut, marks of an honest, truthful wine that brings promise of future things, things that must truly be wonderful as right now they appear perfectly, impeccably, absolutely astounding.

Better late than never, as is the case of the €15m (R310m, roughly) heading the way of the South African wine industry from the European Union (EU). And about 20 years late, to be roughly precise, as the moela was supposed to have been paid after the formalisation of the wine and spirits agreement between the EU and South Africa way back in 2002. This was the agreement giving Cape’s producers tariff-free access to EU markets, as well as ensuring that South Africa stopped using geographically protected wine styles such as Port and Sherry.

The all-clear for the windfall has, however, now been given and as announced last week, the largesse is heading down south from the EU. Here, the funds “aim to unlock new business opportunities and support the development of black-owned brands, farms, education, and enterprises across the wine and spirits value chain”, as per a media release.

The allocation and use of these funds will no doubt be scrutinised by Cape wine producers and others with a stake in the business, as it is no guarded secret that within the confounds of the wine industry official organisational bodies, capital is on the scarce side.

Wines of South Africa (Wosa) – the industry arm responsible for promoting the country’s wine industry internationally – has, for example, found itself unable to pay the travel costs of key delegates to the Cape Wine showcase to be held later this year. This led to producers themselves being asked – on top of their statutory export levies paid to Wosa – to foot the bill so as to ensure a meaningful contingent of overseas guests can be jetted into South Africa to attend the event in September.

Budget cuts throughout the hallowed halls of industry bodies have been hamstringing the work of, among others, various training and education bodies. Together with the perennial news that only some 10% of the country’s wine producers are profitable, with over 35% running at a loss, any capital injection into the situation of Wine Brand South Africa is as welcome as a three-hour long spell of thunderous rain on a grazing pasture in the Kalahari.

Allocating and managing the R310m into the waiting arms of South African wine will be handled by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), working in partnership with the Land Bank – which will receive €10 million of the total amount – and the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC).

Although the objectives of the EU funding predictably focusses on Black Economic Empowerment and creating opportunities for previously disadvantaged people, it must be realised that one thing the South African industry does not need are more wine brands – black owned or otherwise. Some 40 new brands are created in South Africa each year, and despite this proliferation of labels, the industry itself is stagnating as far as local and international wine sales are concerned. New brands are predominantly started by wealthy individuals seeking the lifestyle and ego rewards that the wine world offers, or they are founded as black-owned brands artificially sustained by hand-outs courtesy of the government and South Africa’s wine industry bodies. Neither of the two are known for showing commercial success.

To be handed the opportunity of creating and managing a new wine brand in the current environment of South African wine, thus, is a somewhat poisoned chalice. And if the forthcoming EU money is going to be used to allow starry-eyed wannabe wine entrepreneurs to do so hand-over-fist, it will be akin to pouring an oxidised tank of dry white down the drain.

The majority share of any economic windfall becoming the wine industry should be used to market and promote Cape wine and the image of the industry to broaden the consumer base. This is now the only box left unticked in the list of necessities for reaching greater commercial success. South Africa’s wine excellence with an array of desired international varieties is non-debatable. As far as sustainability and responsible production methods go, the country is among the world’s leaders. As it is in wine tourism.

But the industry has failed in strategising and implementing relevant and successful marketing actions, both internationally and locally. Those in the know – trade buyers, journalists, international judges and the rest of the vinous in-crowd – are aware of the status that Cape wine should command throughout the world. But the most important cog in that wheel, namely the potential consumer, remains either undecided or ignorant of what South African wine has to offer. This includes the global markets, as well as swathes of untapped potential local consumers.

Empowerment can only occur through economic sustainability. Concerted efforts and meaningful actions to truly unlock the potential of the South African wine industry through inspired, imaginative and dynamic marketing and promotion activities are to be ignored at the peril of all those whose futures rely on it.

Yet, the question must be asked: why has this crucial aspect still not received the attention it deserves?

It is the coolest of green grapes, and becoming a hot ticket in the wine world. Those – we – ardent followers of the great Alvarinho fruit from the Vinho Verde region in northern Portugal have for some time known that its wines deserve naming among the world’s great whites. Crisp and bright, yet woven from reams of multi-layered complexity. Tense and tasting of cold, yet opening up into the mouth to form a broad layer of glowing sunlit charm.

And ever since it was announced that Alvarinho has been approved for planting in Bordeaux due to its ability to handle dry and hot conditions in an apparently climatically changing world, the profile of this variety has been elevated. Its presence has been noted. Its wines are receiving attention from previously uninterested circles. The time for Alvarinho has come, and that time is now.

The cultivar’s home lies in Portugal’s north-west, and across the border into Galicia, Spain. There, Alvarinho is called Albariño, and while the same variety, the Spanish versions have not attained the reputation for excellence for which the wines from Vinho Verde are known.

Vinho Verde is big wine country. Some 21 000ha of it, mainly whites, with Alvarinho being the main quality player along with Loureiro. For a long, long time, the image of Vinho Verde wines was driven by humungous brands of blended wines, such as Casal Carcia, Gatão and Lagosta which all contain a portion of Alvarinho and Loureiro, and a few others. Brisk, gluggable wines with a slight, understated fizz.

But what happened with Alvarinho in Vinho Verde is similar to the story of South African Chenin Blanc. Namely, its potential for a quality wine proposition was identified by visionary winemakers. Who started making site-driven wines, honed and polished into premium elixirs reflecting geographical provenance and astute cellar skills.

These single variety wines still bear the Vinho Verde regional seal, yet have over the past two decades changed the trajectory of the region, of which the wine world takes serious notice.

To illustrate and illuminate the state of play in the Alvarinho/ Albariño court, Joaquim Sá of Amorim Cork recently hosted a tasting of wines made from this variety originating from Portugal, Spain and – yes – South Africa.

There were eight wines in all – four from Portugal and two each from Spain and the Cape. All the Portuguese wines were from Monção E Melgaço, the most northerly of Vinho Verdes nine appellations, while the Spanish numbers originated from Rías Baixas.

The Cape wines were from Upper Hemel-en-Aarde and Devon Valley in Stellenbosch, and underscored the fact that Alvarinho does not have to be grown in areas where sardines and paella are national dishes to reach its full potential in finished wines.

Here, the take-out was that the variety overpowers terroir. The fruit is frigid and succulent, lean yet tautly muscular with broad shoulders leading to trim hips. Aspects evident in all eight wines tasted. It is a classy white grape, easily able to find a table among Riesling, Chablis and Sancerre.

Despite sourcing their grapes from singular sites, the Portuguese winemakers deploy a variety of vinification techniques to place a thumb-print on their Alvarinho offerings. So wood is used, and of the barrel-aged wines tasted in the line-up tasted, the stand-out wine was a Granito Cru Alvarinho 2022 from Portuguese superstar winemaker Luis Sebra. His Granito Cru wines are fermented in a combination of new and used wooden vats, after which aging commences in barrel for nine months – Sebra choosing not to reveal the age of the barrels.

It is a wine of such electricity that not even the dumbest bout of Eskom inefficiency can stop the power. The typical cool sea-spray and flintstone barges into the mouth with tempered aggression, and once the wine finds solace on the palate it reaches a state of instantaneous calm, that same state a frenetic housewife enters when the day’s second Zopax kicks in. Here immense flavours are revealed, gorgeously delightful stuff like cantaloupe and persimmon, gooseberry and green fig, sorrel sap and Key Lime peel.

The wooding of the wine results in a long, satisfying drift over the palate, ending in a sigh of sea-shell and conifer.

Alvarinho in its unadulterated purest was to be had in the Mendes&Symington Contacto 2023, a collaboration between Anselmo Mendes, one of the pioneers of single varietal Alvarinho, and the Symington family Port dynasty who have for some time now ventured beyond the fortified wines that made of them a world brand. The joint venture is an unwooded Alvarinho from the Monção E Melgaço Vinho Verde appellation, picked and fermented in steel where it then spent three months on the lees.

The result is a piercing shard of crisp dry white wine laced with traces of morning ocean fog, oyster shell and cut green pear. Despite the steely thrust, the wine draws an immense feeling of pleasure and appreciation from the palate, reverberating on the senses still seconds after the dollop has disappeared down the hatch.

The Spanish Albariños were less arousing, being slightly fuller, with their hips showing a bit of a cellulite wobble.

Lagar D Cervera Albarino 2023 was by far the best of the two, a wine wanting to race alongside the Vinho Verdes, but slackening in pace, unable to find the zing so dominant in the Portuguese wines. This wine is unwooded, lees aged and shows a hit of peach and yellow plum that is tasty, but shadow the freshness that is just dying to jump out from beneath its fruity flamenco skirt, but never quite does.

The two South African wines in the line-up were a revelation. Newton Johnson, pioneers of Cape Albariño – they prefer the Spanish name – showed their 2023 wine, while Kleine Zalze from Stellenbosch brought a Project Z Alvarinho 2022.

Newton Johnson’s Albariño provides a master-class in the interpretation of this variety with its emphasis on texture and sensual fruit depth. Life-affirming freshness and tuning-fork precision are complemented by an alluring compounded layer of white fruit tastes with a slight, delectable salt-marsh herbaceousness. An unwooded wine given a whack of exposure to concrete vessel, this wine brings together two of Albariño’s most attractive features: sophistication and class, with an unashamed promiscuous moreish drinkability.

For its irreverent Project Z range, Kleine Zalze sources Alvarinho grapes from Devon Valley in Stellenbosch, with fermenting and aging done in the clay amphorae so loved by winemaker RJ Botha and his team. It is a fascinating, charming wine – not as rivetingly energetic as more classic examples, but astounding in the golden fruited shroud lightly lying over the discernible freshness. Yellow peach and grapefruit are prominent, with the desired Alvarinho wash of stone and salinity making a commanding appearance on the finish.

Here’s to hoping more Cape producers will hear Alvarinho’s calling, as this fabulous variety has – like all Portuguese immigrants – shown to be at home in South Africa and a firmer presence on the local vinous landscape will be appreciated by keen imbibers of brilliant, cool and classy white wines.

The full line-up tasted:

Monção E Melgaço, Portugal

Mendes&Symington Contacto Alvarinho 2023 

Anselmo Mendes Tempo Alvarinho 2017

Anselmo Mendes Parcela Ứnica Vinho Verde 2021

Luis Sebra Granito Cru Alvarinho 2022

Rías Baixas, Spain

Fulcro A Pedreira Albariňo 2023

Lagar D Cervera Albariňo 2023

South Africa

Newton Johnson Albariňo 2023

Kleine Zalze Project Z Alvarinho 2022