When hosting your next party or event, you might be struggling to think of some new wines to offer to your guests. We'd highly recommend trying South African wines having visited the country & wine regions extensively, and in this post we'll go over some of our favourite wine regions of South Africa.
Introduction to South African Wine REgions
South Africa was a bustling wine scene and offers fantastic value for money compared to Old World wines. The style is a fusion of old & new world, with old world varieties being brought over by Dutch settlers.
The sweet Muscat de Frontignan Constantia wine was popular and famous in the West as far back as 1700 and is deservedly still popular in the UK & Europe today and fetches a high but reasonable price when compared with a Sauternes or Mosel valley sweet wine.
South Africa has a hot climate meaning bold varieties flourish such as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon & the native Pinotage. Cooler microclimates produce good examples of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay and increasingly varieties such as Riesling & Malbec do well.
Coastal Region
Franschoek
Franschoek is setup nicely as a tourist region with tastings readily available and a wine tram available to take you between the different vineyards so there's no need for anyone to drive.
The wines of Franschoek are Shiraz & Cabernet Sauvignon heavy as well as being a centre for production of Method Cap Classique, made in Champagne Traditional Method.
Stellenbosch
The beautiful Stellenbosch Region produces some great wine, as does the nearby Paarl.
The local university has a specialist Viticulture & Oenology unit that trains a lot of South Africa's winemakers.
Top Producers from the area include Meerlust, Waterford Estate, Rust en Vrede, Raats Family wines & Rustenberg.
Constantia
Close to Cape Town is Constantia, home to Klein Constantia & Groot Constantia who both produce some fantastic sweet wines from Muscat de Frontignon which are popular and offer excellent value for money compared to some of the more expensive Old World sweet wines.
Elgin
The Elgin wine region on the South Coast is a less well known region in the Western cape.
The coolest wine region in South Arica and well known for it's apple orchards, it's emerging as a developing wine region.
Paul Cluver is one my favourite producers (from anywhere in the globe) and is one of the pioneers of developing the area.
We particularly enjoyed the Pinot Noir, Riesling & Noble Late Harvest Riesling from them.
Hemel-en-Aarde
The Hemel-En-Aarde valley in the Walker Bay district is widely regarded as the Pinot Noir capital of South Africa.
Situated close to the seaside town Hermanus, popular with Whale Watchers in the relevant season.
Producers in the Hemel-En-Aarde Heaven and Earth in Afrikaans) valley are the popular in the UK Hamilton Russell vineyards, Newton Johnson, Southern Right & Peter Max.
Conclusion
If you're not sure where to start in choosing matching wines for a meal, hiring a private chef from Yuzu Private Dining would be a great start.
With extensive experience in restaurants, visiting the vineyards and wine regions, one of our experts will be able to guide into selecting a match for your food menu.
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