South African wine explained. Chenin Blanc, Pinotage and the Cape.

From a Cape supply station to a quality revolution

South African wine began in the 1650s, when the Dutch East India Company set up a supply station at the Cape of Good Hope and its first governor, Jan van Riebeeck, planted vines. After the end of apartheid in the early 1990s, the industry reconnected with the world, and new wineries, winemakers and regions have appeared ever since. In recent years more than 40% of vineyards were replanted as the country moved from volume to quality. South Africa is now the eighth-largest wine producer in the world.

Most vineyards lie in the Western Cape, where the cold Benguela current from Antarctica cools the coast. The geology is ancient, with Table Mountain Sandstone, Cape Granite and Bokkeveld Shale, and the region is home to the Cape Floral Kingdom, one of the most diverse plant kingdoms on earth. Hosts Christy Canterbury MW and Marc Almert, Best Sommelier of the World 2019, also stress the country's commitment to sustainable farming.

Chenin Blanc, or Steen

White grapes still dominate, and the most planted is Chenin Blanc, known locally as Steen. It arrived from France in the 17th century and was valued for its productivity and its ability to keep acidity in heat. For a long time it went into brandy and bulk wine, but today it makes high-quality dry wines, both oaked and unoaked. Thanks to many old vines, the wines can be rich, with apricot, pineapple, melon and guava.

Swartland, north of Cape Town, is famous for old, dry-farmed bush vines planted largely in the 1960s. Winemakers such as Eben Sadie helped put the region back on the map with terroir-driven wines.

Colombard

The second most planted grape is Colombard, an offspring of Chenin Blanc and Gouais Blanc, best known in France for Cognac and Armagnac. Its naturally high acidity makes it a great blending partner for Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay, and it thrives in warmer areas such as Olifants River, Robertson, Breedekloof and Orange River. Marc and Christy taste the Vaalkameel Colombard from Lowerland with a tabbouleh salad and pan-fried feta with honey, a fine lesson in matching acidity with acidity.

Pinotage and Stellenbosch

Pinotage was created in 1925 by Abraham Izak Perold, the first professor of viticulture at Stellenbosch University, by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault, then known in South Africa as Hermitage. The forgotten seedlings were rescued by Charlie Niehaus, and the first commercial plantings followed in 1943. Pinotage is not easy: careless winemaking can bring nail polish or burnt rubber notes. Lower yields and careful work now give deep, juicy, age-worthy wines with black fruit.

Stellenbosch, east of Cape Town, is one of the oldest and most important regions. The best vineyards rely on breezes from False Bay or higher altitude. Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek are famous for Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends, but Stellenbosch is also the birthplace of Pinotage, and the grape is finding its way back into the vineyards. The best examples show black fruit with notes of rooibos, dried leaves and spice.

The experiment: bottles, cans and boxes

Does wine from a small bottle taste worse than from a magnum? With a tape measure and a large cardboard box, the hosts explain how volume and surface area affect aging. Then they look at canned wine and bag-in-box: what they are good for, and how long they keep.

Two blind tastings and a smoked duck breast with fig compote complete the episode. It helps you prepare for WSET Level 3, with grapes, history, regions and wine packaging explained.