Swartland
Warm Mediterranean
Dry, rolling wheat country north of Cape Town, and the centre of a new wave of old-vine Chenin Blanc, Syrah and Grenache.
Overview
About Swartland
Swartland lies about an hour north of Cape Town, around the towns of Malmesbury and Riebeek-Kasteel. Its name, meaning black land, is said to come from the dark colour of the renosterbos, or rhino bush, that once covered the plains. Wheat farming dominated for generations, and the vineyards that survived were mostly old, dry-farmed bush vines of Chenin Blanc, Cinsault, Grenache and Carignan.
In the 2000s and 2010s, a group of producers led by Eben Sadie and Adi Badenhorst, and later including Chris and Andrea Mullineux, began making wines from those old vines in a low-intervention style, an approach that came to be known as the Swartland Revolution and raised the region's profile worldwide. The Old Vine Project now certifies vineyards over 35 years old, and Swartland has become the place to look for characterful Cape Chenin Blanc and Rhône-style reds.
Swartland is marked on the map.
South Africa
Shaded: Western Cape. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Warm Mediterranean
Hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, with less rain than the coast. Most vineyards are unirrigated bush vines, and the ocean breezes that reach the western side help keep the grapes fresh.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Weathered shale and decomposed granite, with iron-rich soils at the Paardeberg and Kasteelberg. The poor, dry soils keep yields very low.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Swartland is a wine district within the Western Cape's Wine of Origin scheme, with an independent certification for old vines.
Swartland Wine of Origin (district)
The registered district, with wards such as Riebeekberg, Malmesbury and the Paardeberg.
Old Vine Project (OVP)
A certification for vineyards that are at least 35 years old, printed on the label.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.
Chenin Blanc
Old, dry-farmed bush vines make characterful, textured Chenin Blanc.
Cinsault
Old bush vines have driven a revival of light, fresh Cinsault reds.
Pinotage
A hub for a newer generation of fresher, lighter-touch Pinotage.
Syrah
A growing reputation for characterful, often minimal-intervention Syrah.