Malu Lambert’s favourite South African white blends

Contrary to popular belief – and if the 20 wines selected here are anything to go by – you can taste terroir through the lens of a blend. In South Africa’s case, white cuvées are the most transparent, with imaginative winemakers building a picture of place from a range of different grapes, sites and techniques.

For the tasting to make this selection, I called in white blends from across the country and ended up sampling more than 60 examples, most of which scored above 90 points.

Scroll down for notes and scores Malu’s favourite South African white blends

The main categories

South Africa’s white blends can be broadly divided into three categories. First, the Bordeaux-style Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blends, made using traditional ‘protective’ techniques and ingredients, such as chilled grapes, anaerobic fermentation and cultured yeasts. These wines are steadily improving in quality but are sadly often overlooked, as consumers are more inclined towards straight Sauvignon Blanc.

The cooler regions of Constantia, Durbanville, Elgin and Elim all make superb renditions, as does the greater Stellenbosch region, from sites with moderating influences such as ocean breezes and higher altitudes.

Then there are the ‘Cape whites’, although there’s some controversy over how these are defined. Most postulate that Chenin Blanc – the nation’s most-planted grape (16,192 hectares in 2023, according to data from SAWIS, with Sauvignon Blanc second at 10,028ha) – should form the majority of the blend.

Premium examples often showcase other heritage grapes, too. Most of South Africa’s old vines are white, a happy hangover from the early days of local brandy production. Chenin, Colombard, Palomino, Semillon and Clairette Blanche were all originally planted for the spirits industry. In wines today, these grapes are often blended with white Rhône varieties that have found a home in the Cape’s Mediterranean climate and preponderance of granitic soils.

Overall excellence

There are South African winemakers who would rather not be prescribed to, and that brings us to the third category: the wildcards, such as field blends. Hemelrand Vine Garden is a good example. In 2010, Chris Alheit, co-owner and winemaker at Alheit Vineyards, and grower Hans Evenhuis created a vineyard in the marginal Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge region by interplanting Chardonnay, Roussanne, Verdelho, Chenin Blanc and Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains.

‘The wine will naturally change every vintage,’ says Alheit. ‘I’m intrigued by the genetic evolution of the original cultivars that landed in the country. That’s what’s unique to South Africa.’

A common factor aligning the more niche bottlings is interesting, low-yielding vineyards. These vineyards may be small, but their stories are writ large, such as the multi-regional Rocking Horse blend made by John Seccombe at Thorne & Daughters.

‘I was loosely inspired by wines like Gérard Gauby’s Vieilles Vignes Blanc,’ he explains, referring to the traditional blend of old-vine Macabeu, Grenache Blanc, Chardonnay and other varieties from Roussillon in southwest France. ‘It’s a wine that struck me as having a sense of place while also being inimitable.’

The most successful wines of the tasting were largely Chenin-led, blended with a mix of heritage grapes and Rhône varieties. With many of these, in contrast to the Bordeaux-style blends, winemakers were more experimental – using natural ferments, skin contact and a wide mix of maturation vessels, such as amphorae, concrete and varying sizes of old oak.

The overall excellence of the wines made it tough to select just 20. However, my top wines reflect not only a range of terroirs and styles, but also the energy and dynamism of some of South Africa’s most forward-thinking producers.

Malu Lambert’s top 20 South African white blends

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