MICHAEL FRIDJHON

The 2026 vintage is largely in the cellars, so for producers in many of the major regions there is at least an air of certainty about the outcome.

Growers in the earlier-ripening areas may even be planning their post-vintage breaks; others, in cooler, later zones, may be staring anxiously at the forecasts. Most will have dodged the twin risks of fire and smoke taint. A few will have been caught by sudden, huge downpours a few weeks ago. In most cases there was little they could have done: you shouldn’t harvest just because smoke is on the horizon or because it will rain. Successful viticulture is not like timing when to buy gold or when to exit the stock market.

Adam Mason, who makes his own Yardstick wines, and those of Vriesenhof and Klein DasBosch in Stellenbosch as well as Terre Paisible in Franschhoek, was thoughtfully upbeat about 2026.

“I don’t think there has been a better year for chardonnay in Stellenbosch for some time. Amazing yields and beautiful quality fruit. Often chardonnay flowering coincides with seasonal south-easterlies, but the earlier flowering and delayed onset of these winds resulted in a very good fruit set.”

Shawn Mathyse, at Ken Forrester, was equally upbeat about his chenins. “Our best FMC [Forrester Meinert chenin] for years,” he told me enthusiastically.

Mason added, “In general the earlier varieties have better yields and the later, mostly red, varieties are down in tonnage, but showing excellent concentration of colour and tannins”. He did express concern about the impact of the January heat. “In years like this the benefit of supplementary irrigation is clear, the ability to stretch the ripening window to allow for flavours and tannins to synchronise with sugar levels.”

Crop size may be an issue: given the state of the market, nature’s bounty could be a mixed blessing. Sales aren’t exactly booming. So when there’s an opportunity for engaging with customers in accessible (but not mainstream) local markets, it’s hardly surprising to see a vast increase of producers, compared with past years.

This probably explains the turnout of top estates at this year’s Investec Wine on Water festival in St Francis, hosted on the last weekend in February. What started out as a Rotary fundraiser five years ago with a handful of producers setting up shop in homes along the canals has morphed into one of the Eastern Cape’s biggest consumer events. Despite the harvest still being in full swing, many winemakers are there in person. They seem happy to abandon their wineries in favour of chatting to the crowds who access the houses from barges, which serve as water taxis along the St Francis waterways.

In theory this minimises the drink-driving risks (though several overenthusiastic imbibers stumbled precariously at the edge of the piers). I used the occasion of my visit to sample wines with Michael White of Highlands Road, the Wallaces of Paul Wallace wines/Off the Record (made by their son Bobby) and to taste from Muratie and Kleine Zalze.

Nothing better reveals the diversity of which Elgin is capable than the stylistic differences between Highlands Road and Paul Wallace. The former’s strength is in white wines, mainly sauvignon based, while the latter produces finely crafted reds.

The Highlands Road Sine Cera white Bordeaux blend remains the cellar’s flagship: it delivers freshness, mid-palate weight, texture and length. At about R350 a bottle, it’s a better deal than almost all its competitors. The estate’s sauvignon and semillon are also (unsurprisingly) worth buying. Wallace’s best reds are the Crackerjack Bordeaux blend, pure and refined and given away at R280, and the Black Dog malbec. The chardonnay is also worth seeking out.

At the Kleine Zalze stand I was properly impressed by the (certified old vine) 2025 Vineyard Selection chenin blanc. Bobby Wallace’s Off the Record syrah 2023 (made with fruit from the Ceres Plateau) is beautifully refined and remarkably fragrant, and worth the effort it will take to track it down.