Flora and Fauna Viognier by Kleine Oranjerie
£10.49
£13.99 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Only 4 bottles left
Viognier done the Cape way, perfumed with jasmine and white peach, lifted by a whisper of white pepper, and finished with a gingery, almost spicy texture that keeps you reaching for another sip. From Paarl's sandy loams, this is an aromatic white with proper backbone, ideal for anyone who finds Sauvignon Blanc a bit predictable.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We taste a lot of Viognier, and most of it falls into one of two camps: thin and apologetic, or blowsy and exhausting. This sits squarely between the two, which is exactly where the grape belongs. Kleine Oranjerie's small-batch, wild-ferment approach gives it a precision you rarely find at this price, the perfume is honest, the acidity does real work, and that ginger-spiced finish is genuinely memorable. We'd point anyone curious about aromatic whites here first, and at just over a tenner it's an easy yes for a midweek curry or a dinner-party opener that gets people asking questions.
Tasting Notes
Classic Viognier perfume leads the way, jasmine, white peach and orchard blossom lift from the glass, with a faint twist of white pepper adding intrigue. The palate is generous and richly textured, all stone fruit and honeysuckle, yet kept honest by a bright streak of acidity that stops it tipping into opulence. The finish carries a gentle warmth of ginger, leaving the mouth fresh, spiced and asking for another sip.
About This Wine
If you've never quite clicked with Viognier, too oily, too flabby, too much, let Kleine Oranjerie change your mind. This is the grape at its most charming: jasmine and white peach lift out of the glass, fruit blossom drifts in behind, and there's that telltale whisper of white pepper that tells you you're in serious aromatic territory. One sniff and you understand why Viognier obsessives put up with the grape's difficult reputation. The palate delivers on the promise. Generous and richly flavoured, yes, but pulled into focus by a bright, zingy acidity that stops it from ever turning lazy. The finish is the giveaway: a gingery, textural grip that lingers and lifts, the kind of detail you only get when a winemaker picks early and reads the vineyard properly. The fruit comes from Paarl, grown on sandy loams where the trick is restraint, pick too late and Viognier collapses into something heavy and forgettable. Kleine Oranjerie works with vines old and new across the Western Cape, leans into wild ferments, and lets each site speak for itself. It shows. Pour this with a Thai green curry, a fragrant Cape Malay korma, or a wedge of fresh goats' cheese alongside roasted vegetables, anything with spice or aromatic herbs will sing. Delivered across the UK, and a lovely off-piste choice for the friend who thinks they've tried everything.
Food Pairing
This is a wine built for the spice rack. Thai green curry is a natural match, the aromatic richness meets coconut and lemongrass head-on, while the acidity cuts through the heat. Cape Malay curries do the same trick. Off the spice route, try it with grilled goat's cheese on toast, roast root vegetables with honey, or seared scallops.
- —Thai green curry with chicken and Thai basil
- —Cape Malay lamb curry with yellow rice
- —Grilled goat's cheese salad with roast beetroot
- —Honey-roast carrots and parsnips
- —Pan-seared scallops with ginger butter
How to Serve
Decanting
No need to decant. If anything, pour it into a jug or carafe briefly to wake up the perfume, then serve. Viognier wants to show its aromatics straight away, not sit and wait.
Ageing & Cellaring
Drink young to catch this wine at its aromatic peak, Viognier's perfume is at its most expressive within two to three years of bottling. There's little to gain from cellaring; the floral lift and ginger-spiced finish fade with age. Enjoy it now while everything is singing.
The Land
Sandy loam soils on Paarl's valley floor drain freely and warm quickly, pushing the vines into an early rhythm. That's why timing matters so much here, pick a few days too late and Viognier's perfume gives way to heaviness. Pick at the right moment, on these free-draining soils, and you get the floral lift and zingy backbone this wine is built on.
The Winemaking
Hand-tended fruit is gently pressed and left to find its own way through a wild, natural ferment, no commercial yeasts pushed in to dictate terms. That hands-off approach is what gives this Viognier its unforced aromatics and textural finish. Picking happens early, which is the trick with Viognier: wait too long and you lose the jasmine lift and the bright acidity that keeps the wine honest. The result is generous but never blowsy, perfumed, plump in the middle, with a gingery grip on the close.
The Western Cape Region
Le Domaine draws its fruit from vineyards scattered across the Western Cape, from coastal sites cooled by Atlantic breezes to warmer inland slopes, all planted between 50 and 300 metres above sea level. This broad sourcing is deliberate. By blending components from different microclimates, the cellar builds a consistent house style that balances the crisp acidity of cooler sites with the ripe generosity of warmer ones. It's the Western Cape's extraordinary diversity captured in a single glass.
About the Producer
Kleine Oranjerie
Franschhoek is postcard-pretty, all mountains and old oaks, but Kleine Oranjerie's real interest lies further afield. This producer doesn't confine itself to the valley's borders, instead ranging across Paarl and the wider Western Cape in search of vineyards with real character, particularly the region's oldest vines. It's an approach I've always admired: rather than treating a single estate as gospel, they go looking for what the Cape does best, plot by plot.
That searching spirit shows in the name given to their main range: Flora and Fauna, a nod to the extraordinary biodiversity surrounding these vineyards. It's a fitting name, because the whole philosophy here is about letting that natural variety speak through the glass rather than smoothing it into something generic.
The winemaking is deliberately hands-off. Grapes are pressed gently, fermentation happens naturally, and there's a clear preference for old vineyards, sites over 35 years old, some tracing back to plantings from the early 1900s. Old vines like these produce smaller, more concentrated berries and wines with a depth younger plantings simply can't match. It's a slower, more patient way of making wine, but the results justify it.
The Paarl vineyards feeding the Flora and Fauna range each tell their own story. Merlot comes from sandy loam soils, which tend to produce softer wines with gentle, approachable tannins. Viognier is grown on sandstone, a soil type that helps retain the grape's perfumed aromatics without tipping into heaviness. Both wines carry Wine of Origin Western Cape status, reflecting fruit drawn from across the region rather than a single vineyard.
I like Kleine Oranjerie because it represents something quintessentially South African: a willingness to look beyond the famous names and find quality wherever old vines and good soil happen to meet. For UK drinkers exploring beyond Stellenbosch's big-hitters, this is a producer worth getting to know. Honest, thoughtfully made wines with a genuine sense of place, delivered straight to your door here in the UK.