2020 Vision: Harvest in the Swartland

Despite a nationwide lockdown in South Africa that initially prohibited all wine producing and exporting activities, the government has since made concessions to allow growers to finish harvesting and production, and businesses to resume exports - news to which the South African wine industry breathed a collective sigh of relief this week.

(Updated 21st April: the South African government has re-instated a total prohibition on export sales. For more information see here).

Early reports from the Western Cape indicate a crop of exceptional quality in 2020. Yields, according to Vin Pro and the marketing body Wines of South Africa (WOSA), are modestly up on the 2019 harvest but still below the five year average. This they ascribe to bouts of frost in the Northern Cape, windy conditions in coastal regions, and prolonged drought in Klein Karoo, Olifantsriver and parts of Robertson. Broadly though, 2020 is not a drought vintage, with the Western Cape water dam said to be at 82% capacity by mid-September 2019 (the beginning of the growing season) versus 70% in 2018 and 37% at the same time in 2017. In conversations with our producers in the Swartland, they are delighted, reporting an increase in volume thanks to both favourable climatic conditions and new vineyards that have them “spoilt for choice,” in the words of David Sadie.

According to Jolandie Fouché, the driving force behind the nascent Wolf & Woman project and jubilant new mother, the Swartland enjoyed a cool winter with a decent supply of water that really helped to sustain the old dry-farmed sites. Low temperatures put the vines into a prolonged winter dormancy (not always possible), which helps them to consolidate and build up energy reserves for the spring. Flowering was even and the weather conditions quite stable (strong winds are a common cause of yield reduction), followed by a steady, not excessively hot growing season. A good fruit set soon meant that a green harvest was called upon to improve quality, particularly in the young vineyards, before the first picks could begin pre-heatwaves in mid-January. Vineyard management in the Swartland though can be a bit more complicated than we are used to in Europe. Says David Sadie, “where we need to buy fruit, we set up a contract to pay by the hectare rather than the ton – that puts us totally in control of how the vineyard is farmed and removes any financial incentive for the farmer to over-crop. The wines are better for it, but it means we pay a high rate and take on all the risk every year.”

Harvest underway on the Paardeberg mountain. Photo Credit: David & Nadia.

Donovan Rall, who works with roughly 70% Swartland fruit for his own wines, and is a widely respected consultant in Stellenbosch and other regions, felt that a bigger crop and more uniform quality allowed for a slightly later start to the harvest, beginning around the end of January – a week later than average, and finishing with Cinsault from the Darling area at the end of February. Both David Sadie and Jolandie Fouche agree that picking dates were crucial. “If you miss a pick then you totally lose your style”, says Jolandie, who finished on 10th February. David reports that an inch of rain across the Paardeberg mountain during the harvest gave them a bit of breathing space, and pushed the grapes along nicely, commencing 17th January, a few days later than average, and finishing on 19th February. In Donovan’s words, “2020 gave us more time to plan the harvest because of the bigger crop and canopies. I could push for longer hang time without risking too much concentration.” He notes that vines grown on granite have done especially well this year, representing at least a 50% increase in yield on a normal year - quantity finally arriving hand in hand with quality. He cites as an example a granite based vineyard on the Cape Town side of the Paardeberg called Nuwedam (the main source for the Rall White) as evidence. “Normally I pick the vineyard in two or three passes to even out the ripeness levels. I always love the vibrancy of the first pick but normally have to wait and then blend, but this year everything came together, and the fruit was so beautiful I could do it all at once and I am incredibly happy. It is the biggest crop I have had off that site by far – at least 40% up and the quality is absolutely there.” Donovan’s granite observation was restated by David, whose Plat’Bos Chenin Blanc site cropped in at two tons – still small, but double that of 2019!

Pickers returning healthy grapes to the cellar. Photo Credit: David & Nadia.

In other exciting developments, if the welcome arrival of baby Helen in the middle of the harvest wasn’t enough (!), Jolandie has been able to secure and harvest two small blocks of Grenache Blanc and Grenache Noir on the Voor-Paardeberg border to compliment the two mature blocks of Chenin Blanc and Pinotage she was already using for the Wolf & Woman brand. What she intends to do with them remains to be seen, but the fact that she was out in the vineyards every day, baby in arms, speaks clearly to a person of great positivity and ambition. The international future is bright for Jolandie – she a real rising star of the Swartland wine scene, especially as her Chenin was described by Tim Atkin MW as his “most exciting white wine discovery of the year” in 2019. “People forget that although our region is very dry and can be very hot, we are able to pick early, before the heatwaves and before the rains and that makes a huge difference for us in terms of quality and reputation. The same cannot be said for Cabernet producers in Stellenbosch for example or other later-ripening regions making different styles of wine.” Indeed, anecdotal reports suggest that between Stellenbosch, Elgin and Walker Bay there was an estimated 10-15,000 tons of fruit still hanging on the vine when the Coronavirus pandemic arrived in South Africa.

Jolandie Fouche and baby Helen inspecting the vineyards just before the harvest. Photo Credit: Jolandie Fouche.

In the Cellar

Thankfully, everything is now barrelled down in the Swartland. Though that has not been easy. “The pressure this year was not in the vineyard but in the cellar”, according to David. “We have never felt so strained. I thought we were at max capacity last year but that was clearly not the case! We had to prioritise our barrels for the best plots and move other wines to tank – it was purely a space issue; we did not expect to have so many great batches of fruit. It is a real blessing.” David & Nadia now have seventy-five separate components to taste and assemble.

A newly purchased concrete egg ready for a Chenin Blanc experiment in the cellar on the Paardebosch farm. Photo Credit: David & Nadia.

One Chenin component is sitting in a newly purchased concrete egg – their first such experiment. Exciting times, but at this early stage, it is the 2020 reds that have been the big talking point. “The overall excellent health of the berries and a great skin to juice ratio in our reds allowed for a longer skin contact than we’re used to. We always extract gently but this year up to five weeks on the skins has really tenderised the tannins and I think they are very fine wines.” Donovan concurred, saying that, “in the last two years I felt that whites have had the edge over reds but this year I am confident that the reds will be really fantastic. Take my schist-grown Syrah as an example. Schist does not have the same water retaining capabilities of granite or clay soils, so the vines are harder to manage, and you really need to have a feel for the vineyard. I was really worried when the first analysis came in on the fruit. It was telling me that they it was at 28 balling [extremely high density and potential alcohol] but to me, although they looked beautiful, they didn’t taste all that sweet. Something didn’t feel right, so I waited and kept tasting, and once the juice was in tank the reading had dropped right down! Although we do have a relatively high pH, we have a total acidity level of 5.8g and an ABV of only 12.5%. Combine those elements and you have a Syrah that is finely structured with perceptible freshness and only moderate alcohol – I love it.”

Garagiste winemaker Donovan Rall. Photo Credit: Swartland Wine Route/ Donovan Rall.

The Market

Last year was an important, potentially watershed year for premium, or however one wishes to define “fine wine”, sales from South Africa to the UK. The roaring success of September’s New Wave event in London, and a host of events and press tastings in other countries finally delivered the message that South Africa should be seen as a source of world class wines, produced on a very small scale by some of the world’s most energetic winemaking talent. Moreover, while the South African Rand and domestic economy continues, sadly, to fluctuate, export prices are likely to remain steady. With that, it is universally agreed that the wines are priced very fairly given the quality, and Covid-19 aside, with every passing tasting they attract a new and incredibly diverse range of wine lovers.

Indeed, if I were a betting man, I’d look past the shared difficulties of the moment, which we will overcome, and be optimistic about the future. In a jostling and uncertain post-Covid wine market, it will surely be those imbued with a clear sense of purpose and adaptability who bounce back the quickest. We have already observed a decade of positive progressive change in the face of some quite unique and profound challenges in South Africa. Now armed with a decent sized vintage in the cellar and a slew of critical acclaim, I’d put my money on South Africa to rock it all over again.

Mark Dearing