A short primer on Swartland wine

The Swartland used to be known for wheat and bulk wine. Over the past two decades it has become one of South Africa's most talked-about wine regions, thanks to old bush vines, dry farming and a generation of winemakers who like to work with as little intervention as possible.

The Riebeek Valley sits on the eastern side of the region, under the Kasteelberg. Soils here are largely shale with sandstone higher up, summers are hot and dry, and cooler air drifting in from the Berg River valley takes the edge off the afternoon heat.

You can taste the whole range within a few kilometres of the house: historic estates such as Allesverloren and Kloovenburg, newer names like Mullineux & Leeu, and small producers stocked at The Wine Kollective.

A good way in: taste two estates in one morning, then let a wine-shop owner talk you through three bottles you would never have picked yourself.