South African white wines: a guide to the Cape's finest

Say South African wine and most people picture reds: Pinotage, big Cabernets, smoky Shiraz. That misses where a lot of the interesting work is happening. Some of the most compelling white wine in the world is being made in the Cape right now, and it is still priced as though nobody has noticed.

The conditions explain a good deal of it. The climate is half Mediterranean, half maritime, so vineyards get African sun during the day and cool ocean air at night. Wines come out ripe without being heavy, and expressive without losing their shape.

Chenin Blanc

If Pinotage is the red signature, Chenin Blanc is the white one. The grape does better here than anywhere, and it stretches from bone dry and mineral to properly sweet.

Younger vines give crisp, apple-fresh wines built for summer evenings: green apple, white flowers, a clean finish that wants seafood. Wild Garden Chenin Blanc at £9.79 does this cheaply and well.

The wines worth hunting come from old bush vines, some planted in the 1960s, rooted deep into granite. Expect honeyed richness held up by acidity, quince and beeswax, sometimes a light smokiness from time on lees. These change in the glass as you drink them, and they go with roast chicken, creamy pasta or aged Gouda. Piekenierskloof Old Vine Bergandel Chenin Blanc at £25 is the real thing.

The Swartland makes the most characterful versions, often wild fermented with as little intervention as possible. Stellenbosch polishes things up, and cooler Elgin produces mineral-driven wines that stand comparison with the Loire.

Sauvignon Blanc

Cape Sauvignon Blanc does not follow the New Zealand template. Rather than aggressive tropical fruit, you get citrus and stone fruit over a mineral backbone from old soils.

The coastal sites do it best. Constantia, tucked behind Table Mountain, gives elegant, fresh but complex wines with a fynbos herb note that could not come from anywhere else. These do not shout, which is rather the point.

Elgin is more dramatic. Altitude and cold nights produce laser acidity and real mineral precision, which is why these wines work so well with oysters, goat's cheese or plain grilled fish. Zevenwacht 7even Sauvignon Blanc at £15.49 and Vergelegen Premium Sauvignon Blanc at £12.99 are both good introductions.

Chardonnay

Cape Chardonnay has shed its heavy-oak reputation. The best now comes from cool sites where natural acidity survives while the fruit fills out.

Walker Bay and the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley lead here, making wines that sit comfortably beside village-level Burgundy. White peach and citrus, oak used as seasoning rather than a sledgehammer, and a mineral finish that reflects limestone and ocean. These want serious food: roast cod, lobster, a good chicken pie.

First Lady Chardonnay at £12.79 is the everyday choice. White Lady Chardonnay at £32 and Kershaw Clonal Selection Chardonnay at £53 are where it gets serious.

Cape white blends

This is where Cape winemakers get inventive. A typical white blend puts Chenin Blanc alongside Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and sometimes Semillon or a Rhone white variety, and the result usually beats any of its parts on their own.

They also happen to be the most useful wines in the range, equally at home with a braai or a Sunday roast. Zevenwacht Tin Mine White at £17.49 is the polished version, Waterkloof Circle of Life White at £12.99 the characterful one, and Coterie by Wildeberg Chenin Blanc Grenache Blanc at £14.99 the most modern in style. The full set sits under South African blends.

Semillon

Semillon is overlooked and worth finding. Cape versions tend to be fresh and mineral rather than heavy and oily, with distinctive fig and citrus character.

It adds weight and texture to Sauvignon Blanc in a blend, as in Reyneke Organic White at £15.89, but it stands up perfectly well alone. Franschhoek is the place to look, where it develops honeyed complexity while keeping its acidity. Boekenhoutskloof Semillon at £48 is the benchmark bottle, made from some of the oldest Semillon vines in the country.

What sets them apart

Two oceans create large swings between day and night temperature, so grapes ripen properly and still keep their acidity. The soils are ancient and add a mineral quality that younger wine regions cannot fake. And three centuries of practice means producers know how to handle both.

There is also a lack of pretension about these wines. They are made to be drunk rather than scored, which tends to produce bottles with immediate appeal that also happen to age well.

At the table

The acidity handles creamy sauces, and the fruit copes with spice that would flatten more delicate wines.

Chenin Blanc goes with roast pork or a decent curry. Sauvignon Blanc is the one for asparagus or fresh goat's cheese. Chardonnay wants richer fish or roast chicken. The Cape blends will take on anything from fish and chips to a full roast without complaint.

Where to start

Prices remain fair relative to the quality. Excellent Chenin Blanc under £15, serious Chardonnay under £20, and blends that would cost twice as much with a French or Australian label.

Our full South African white wines range covers the lot, and the South African white wine case at £69 is the simplest way to taste across several grapes in one go. Delivered anywhere in the UK.