Exciting High Altitude Vineyards in South Africa

WINE TALK
#1

South African Old Vine Grenache

I’ve been really excited by some of the super high altitude vineyards that are producing some stellar wines in South Africa. I’ve been exploring Piekernierskloof, which I outline in this video.
My question to you all is:
Aside from Koo Plateau, Piekenierskloof, Cederberg, and Bo-Piketberg, are their regions over 500m ASL that I might still need to learn about?

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#2

Hi Jono, I’ll watch the video once I’m a bit more relaxed in the office (prob tomorrow)

Since you seem to be very informed on the region, I always wondered if they make wine in the Drakenberg mountains in Lesotho.

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#3

Hey daniele,

They don’t currently, although there is a wine farm in Kwazulu Natal called Abingdon (the province that the Drakensberg runs through).
Funnily enough, a winemaker was commenting offhand the other day that despite the drakensberg being solidly in the sub-tropical zone, the fact that there is such pronounced altitude may make it viable from a temperature perspective…But there is still the issue of heavy summer rainfall, and the problems that can come with that. But who knows?! Maybe in the future.

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#4

Apologies. There IS a winery in Lesotho. I am contacting them to find out if they vinify estate fruit, or whether they buy fruit from the Cape (as some of the Natal wineries do).

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#5

They are called Sani Wines, and I know they bottle a Pinotage, but I am waiting to find out more about altitudes, soil types and other cultivars under vine. Would also be keen to know the challenges they face in their climate.
Will keep you posted.

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#6

Here is a reply from Sani Wines:

"We planted two varieties of grapes and besides pinotage we have Chenin Blanc. We are a still a small project with a total of 2600 vines. The varieties are planted to a 50:50 ratio. Our vineyards are located at altitude of 1790 metres. We have a rainy season that starts in February which is a bit problematic since that’s during the veraison season of our grapes.
Lastly since our production is still small (3000 litres) our wines are still sold only within South Africa.

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#7

Thank you jono!

Sorry but I’ve been pretty busy at work lately so didn’t pay enough attention to the site.

#8

No problem at all. The nature of these forums is that any convo can pause for as long as it needs to, until you have the time. Hope the next few weeks are slightly less stressful.
Regards
Jono

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