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South Africa

Swartland

10 000 ha under vine

Soils
Decomposed granite and shale on dry, rolling hills
Climate
Hot, dry Mediterranean; old bush vines, mostly unirrigated

On the map

Swartland — 10 000 haMendoza — 150 000 haCentral Valley — 120 000 haNingxia — 40 000 haMarlborough — 29 000 haColumbia Valley — 25 000 haSonoma County — 24 000 haNapa Valley — 18 000 haPaso Robles — 16 000 haStellenbosch — 15 000 haWillamette Valley — 11 500 haBarossa Valley — 11 500 haMaipo Valley — 11 000 haCanelones — 7 500 haMcLaren Vale — 7 000 haCasablanca Valley — 6 000 haMargaret River — 5 800 haNiagara Peninsula — 5 500 haClare Valley — 5 500 haCoonawarra — 5 700 haHawke's Bay — 5 000 haFinger Lakes — 4 000 haOkanagan Valley — 3 000 haHunter Valley — 2 500 haYarra Valley — 2 500 haTasmania — 2 000 haCentral Otago — 2 000 haConstantia — 450 haSwartlandMendozaCentral ValleyNingxiaMarlboroughColumbia ValleySonoma CountyNapa ValleyPaso RoblesStellenboschWillamette ValleyBarossa ValleyMaipo ValleyCanelonesMcLaren ValeCasablanca ValleyMargaret RiverNiagara PeninsulaClare ValleyCoonawarraHawke's BayFinger LakesOkanagan ValleyHunter ValleyYarra ValleyTasmaniaCentral OtagoConstantia
Blob size ≈ vineyard area · approximate locations · coastlines from Natural Earth

Once a bulk-wine and wheat backwater north of Cape Town, the Swartland became, in the 2000s, the crucible of South Africa's wine revolution. A band of young growers rediscovered its treasure: gnarled, unirrigated old bush vines of Chenin Blanc and Cinsault, dry-farmed on granite and shale, giving wines of startling intensity and freshness.

Their low-intervention, Rhône- and old-vine-focused reds and whites — Syrah, Grenache and above all textured, mineral Chenin — remade the country's image. The Swartland is now South Africa's most exciting and influential region, proof of what its old vineyards could always have been.

The vineyard

Indicative share of plantings

The wines

Swartland Chenin Blanc Dry white

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 0The Monastic Middle Ages — 0Exploration & the Fortified Age — 10Classifications & the Golden Age — 20Phylloxera & the World Crises — 15The Modern & New World Era — 75Antiquity0500150017001875195075
Exploration & the Fortified Age 1500 Classifications & the Golden Age 1700 Phylloxera & the World Crises 1875 The Modern & New World Era 1950