South African grape varieties: a guide to the Cape's key grapes

South Africa's wine story is partly about landscape and three centuries of practice, but mostly it is about grapes. Varieties arrived with Dutch settlers, adapted over generations, and in one case were invented outright. What they produce now is genuinely different from what sits on a supermarket shelf.

Here is what each of the main varieties does in the Cape, and which bottles show it best.

The reds

Pinotage

Created in 1925 by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault, Pinotage grows in commercial quantity nowhere else. It is bold, often smoky, and reliably divisive. Early versions were rustic enough to damage the reputation, but modern producers have worked out how to handle it, and the range now runs from juicy and immediate to structured and worth keeping.

Expect dark fruit with smoke, leather or game behind it. Barbecued plums with a savoury edge is not a bad summary. It was built for a braai and works just as well with roast lamb or a mature Cheddar. Painted Wolf The Den Pinotage at £12.79 for everyday, Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage at £19.49 when it matters.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet does well in Stellenbosch and other warm sites, giving ripe blackcurrant fruit with firm tannins. Cape versions are usually more generous than Bordeaux while keeping the structure that lets them age.

Look for blackcurrant, cedar, and often a minty note that seems to be a Cape signature. Classic with roast beef. Warwick First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon at £13.49 is the value option, Hartenberg Estate Cabernet Sauvignon at £23 the serious one.

Shiraz

Australia gets the attention, but South African Shiraz sits somewhere else: riper and more generous than Northern Rhone, with an earthy, savoury quality the Australians do not have.

Dark berry fruit, black pepper, and often a hint of fynbos, the indigenous scrub that keeps turning up in Cape wine descriptions because it keeps turning up in the glass. Very good with game stew or slow-cooked oxtail. Swartland Bush Vines Syrah at £10.99 and DMZ Syrah at £14.99.

Merlot

Usually overshadowed by Cabernet, Merlot does well here, particularly in cooler coastal sites, giving plush fruit without the jamminess that afflicts warm-climate Merlot elsewhere.

Soft and rounded, with plum and chocolate. Good with mushroom dishes or roast chicken with herbs. Whale Point Merlot at £9.99 is the weeknight bottle, Meerlust Merlot at £30 the one to take seriously.

Pinot Noir

The coolest regions, particularly Walker Bay and the Cape South Coast, produce Pinot Noir with genuine elegance and better value than Burgundy.

Silky texture, red fruit, and an earthy complexity in the better examples. Excellent with salmon, duck, or anything involving wild mushrooms. Ernst Gouws Pinot Noir at £11.99 is remarkable for the money, and Meerlust Pinot Noir at £30 is the benchmark.

The whites

Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc is the most planted variety in the country and the most versatile. It makes everything from bone-dry wine to serious dessert bottles, and from cheap everyday drinking to wines that develop for a decade or more.

Old-vine Chenin from bush vines in the Swartland is the most prized, offering concentration and mineral depth that younger vines cannot reach. Green apple and honey when young, moving towards quince, nuts and something closer to wet wool with age. Dry versions suit shellfish, off-dry ones handle spicy Asian food. The Den Chenin Blanc at £12.39, or Piekenierskloof Old Vine Bergandel Chenin Blanc at £25 for the real thing.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc from coastal sites has brilliant freshness and clear regional character. Constantia gives elegant, mineral-driven wines, while warmer areas push towards tropical fruit.

Citrus, gooseberry, and usually a grassy or herbaceous note. Classic with goat's cheese, equally good with sushi or a plain salad. False Bay Sauvignon Blanc at £9.69 and Vergelegen Wild Wind Sauvignon Blanc at £12.99.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay varies enormously depending on site and handling. Coastal fruit leans towards elegance and minerality, warmer inland areas towards richer, more tropical wine.

That covers everything from crisp unoaked styles closer to Chablis through to fuller, buttery wines. Unoaked versions suit fresh seafood; oaked ones handle richer dishes. KWV Classic Chardonnay at £10.59 is the cheap entry, First Lady Chardonnay at £12.79 the better everyday choice, and Kershaw Clonal Selection Chardonnay at £53 the one that competes internationally.

How region changes them

What makes these varieties interesting here is how differently they behave across the country. Cooling from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, warming in the interior valleys, and soils from granite to limestone create enough microclimates that a single grape can produce several quite different wines.

In Stellenbosch, red varieties get warm days and cool nights, which produces structure and ageing potential. Walker Bay and the coastal south suit Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The hot, dry Swartland pushes old-vine Chenin Blanc and Syrah towards concentration that cooler areas cannot match.

Where to begin

None of this requires a cellar or a large budget. Start with a Pinotage to taste something you cannot get elsewhere, then a good Chenin Blanc to understand why sommeliers keep mentioning it, and work outwards from there.

A serious Stellenbosch Cabernet here costs £15 to £25, where the Napa or Bordeaux equivalent would be £50 or more. If you would rather taste several at once, the South African mixed case at £64 covers both colours across a spread of grapes. Delivered anywhere in the UK.