Do you ever get frustrated tasting the same wines over and over again? Even if the labels are different, what’s inside never really changes all that much. I can understand this frustration, it happens to me every now and again. Wine is about difference, it’s about different areas, different varieties, different winemakers; at its core wine is about exploration. Wait, that’s not true, at its core wine is fermented grape juice, but you know what I mean.

So to aid you in refreshing your palate, this will be the first of two posts listing young winemaker/winemaking teams making exciting personality filled wines from around the country. Before I carry on you must realise that these wines are not going to be available from your nearest supermarket or corner shop, but if they are not at your closest specialist wine store, a quick email to the wine-makers will sort you out. Or drop me a mail saying what you are looking for and I will give you a hand.

These are the wines with personality and interest that make me love drinking wine. It is not just the wines themselves, but the people who make them. They all have one thing in common: they want to make the best wines possible, as naturally as possible. They all will tell you great wine is made in the vineyard. And most of them will drink you under the table. I can personally attest to the fact that these wine makers are not here to be the next Kumala or Jacob’s Creek. Obviously they want to make a living, but their main aim is to make beautiful wines. The results are really positive and make a very good looking future for South African Wine.

Craig Hawkins

Craig Hawkins (right), Roid (Left), Fish (centre)

Craig Hawkins typifies these new winemakers. His wines are full of personality and freshness, and to some, downright weird. I have always thought they were downright awesome, but each to their own, right? Born in Pietermaritzberg Craig arrived in the Cape as a teenager and attended Wyberg Boys High. His first stint at the University of Stellenbosch was in Forestry. This didn’t last long and soon he was in England spending a year playing hockey, tending gardens, and earning a nickname, “Squirrel”. The reason for this is still unknown to me, and I have been told that I really don’t want to know. 

Returning to South Afric,a he made his way back to the University where he enrolled in Viticulture and Oenology. Even then he didn’t really buy into the traditional farming methods and gave his lecturers hell. He completed his practical training with Eben Sadie (the Yoda/Mr. Miagi character for many young South African winemakers) before setting out to work harvests in Spain, Portugal, and France (Cote Rotie, Languedoc and Roussillon) as well as spending a couple of weeks working/making/drinking his way around Sicily.

He currently works for Lammershoek, making some super wines. These are more widely available and the LAM range are really affordable. But the wines I would like you to try from Craig are from his own label, the El Bandito range. These are white wines – Chenin Blancs – that are made like more like red wines. Basically the skins are left in contact with the juice for far longer than typical white wines. This results in a textured, structured, oxidative, funky, fresh, assertive, wild, bandit of a wine. You need to taste this stuff. Really really.

Get hold of him here.

(You may get them at Vineyard Connection and Wine Cellar, but I might have drunk them all)

David and Nadia Sadie

David and Nadia

Another Swartlander – although this times born and bred – David Sadie (no relation to the Swartland’s favourite son, Eben) also studied Viticulture and Oenology at the University of Stellenbosch where he met his wife, Nadia (now a qualified soil scientist and viticulturist working at an agri-environmental company). David – like all the young guns – travelled around the world, gaining winemaking experience and skills working at South Pacific Cellars in New Zealand, Chateau Quinault and Yves Quilleron in France. He also put in the time locally at Waterford, Rustenberg and Saronsberg.

All this time spent in a Mediterranean climate, working with Mediterranean varieties and drinking Mediterranean wines left him, naturally, with a desire to make Mediterranean wines. He realised that one of the best places to do this is in the Swartland, as many of South Africa’s upcoming winemakers have realised.

Again, natural winemaking is a focus for this husband and wife winemaking team, with nothing added, a firm focus on the vineyard, and not battering the wines with oak. David and Nadia have released only a white blend so far (Chenin, Viognier and Verdelho) but also have a few small limited releases in the pipeline as they experiment with other varieties. For more information, visit their website, and buy their wines here.

Alheit Vineyards

Suzaan and Chris

Another Husband and Wife team, but this time not from the Swartland – yes there are young winemakers from other regions). Suzaan and Chris Alheit hail from the Hemel-en-Aarde valley, and are committed to making the best wines in South Africa, ever. They have travelled a lot, working harvests together in California’s Napa Valley, Western Australia, St.Emilion in France, Clare Valley in South Australia, and Germany’s Mosel River, as well as tasting and exploring wines in New Zealand, Languedoc, Roussillon, Provence, the Northern and Southern Rhone, and the Cyclades (Greece).

I know Chris – or Butch, as he is called – and the man loves wine. Seriously. You think I hate chocolate/spoofy/shitty wines? Butch bangs his fist harder when mentioning these wines than I could ever hope to. He froths at the mouth. Really. I’ve seen it. It can only be counter-acted by a bottle of something classic.

After drinking their way through Europe the couple returned convinced that the “heartland of fine wine” is Europe. I think what they mean is that they tasted more truly fine wine in Europe than anywhere else. They want to make fine wines here. They are not going about it by hiring fancy pants consultants, getting the heaviest bottle, and slapping on the highest price they can. Nope. They are out to do this properly, and you get the impression that they realise that it is not going to happen overnight. Fine wine takes time, and they are happy to work at it until it comes right.

They specialise in white wine because it goes best with soda water – JOKING – they love white wine and believe that to produce “world beating stuff”, or, THE BEST WINES EVER, the best chance is with white wine.

I am sold by these two. I have tasted briefly and I see really good things. But it is Butch’s attitude to the winemaking that makes me believe that there are going to be really incredible wines coming out of Alheit vineyards soon.

For a whole bunch more info check out their site.

So that’s the first bunch, I’ll be posting on a couple more next week, in the meantime go and find these wines – drop me a comment or a mail if you are struggling, and I will see if I can help out – you can also tune into Wine Harry & Song next week when we’ll have  Butch from Alheit joining Richard Hardiman, Lindsay Williams and myself on to chat about this movement of young winemakers, and what he is getting up to in the Hemel en Aarde.

These are the winemakers I think it is important to support. I have a feeling that before too long it is going to be on some of their wines that South African wines will start being judged internationally. I’m looking forward to that day. I’ll get to have a proper hipster moment and say I drank them before they were so well-known. Join me.