From dryland vineyards in Darling, the Unfiltered Sauvignon Blanc 2015 under the Fleur du Cap label is old-school. Cut grass, fresh herbs, lime and grapefruit on the nose while the palate is rich and thick-textured with coated acidity. Forceful but not particularly charming. R106 a bottle.

#WinemagRating: 86/100.

The 2014 vintage of the Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch producer won the trophy for best in class at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show last year and the 2015 is right up there again.

Intense white and yellow peach plus honeysuckle, spice and a little leesy complexity. The palate is flavour-packed, rich and full in structure but not short of freshness, while the finish is nicely savoury. Some vintages can be borderline OTT but in the case of the 2015, everything comes together for good. Extraordinary quality relative to price at R77 a bottle.

#WinemagRating: 91/100.

As we slide into February, recovering from the wave of prediction posts that decorate blogs and websites through January like tinsel decorates Christmas trees, most of us are nonetheless still thinking about the year ahead in one way or another. Some are preoccupied with harvest activities, others just generally planning and strategizing for surviving the coming months.

In this vein, I came across an interesting piece from The Washington Post entitled “What the future may hold for winemakers and wine drinkers”. The piece is focused on the US wine industry and wine consumer and touches on a number of factors that will likely affect US wine sales in the near future – including cheaper imports, competition from craft alcohols (beers, ciders and cocktails) and the effect of generational shift. That last one got me thinking about Millennials – and if perhaps locally we should be focusing on them too.

If you’ve managed to come this far along in the 2010s and haven’t encountered the term ‘Millennial’ yet, permit me a quick overview for your edification and delight: Millennials are basically Generation Y – the generation following Generation X. Definitions are fuzzy, but generally it refers to anyone born between 1981 and 2004, though the common use of the term skews more towards the younger end of the spectrum (I’m 31 and don’t think of myself as a Millennial and have never been referred to as one either).

Now if you’re really comfortable under that rock, you might be wondering why the collective wine world should care about the M-word and who it represents. In short, they’re the future. They’re also thought to be radically different from any generation that’s preceded them; these are individuals who have grown up with the internet, cellphones, apps etc. They never knew the pain of dial-up, and they are confounded by fax machines and cassette tapes.

More importantly, the younger end of this demographic has just recently come of age – of legal drinking age, that is. This is extremely relevant – and wine producers, marketers and makers will ignore the whims and fancies of this group at their peril – because this generation has given new meaning to the word ‘consumption’. They consume like no other consumer has before – data, trends, social media, innovation. High expectations, short attention spans. Massive expendable income. The type of income that wine marketers love to target for their clients.

If the wine industry misses the Millennial boat now, we are setting ourselves up for a dismal future in 10 or 20 years’ time. And we need to put some serious thought into how we’re going to net them. Wine is not generally associated with younger consumers – it takes time to acquire a taste for it and younger people are more drawn to easily accessible type of drinks like beer (of which the craft beer industry is, of course, already massive) or cocktails (ask a millennial what a bartender is and they might stare at you with a blank look, but talk about mixologists and they’ll envision exotic drinks in neon colours with smoke wafting off the top).

The question then, what are we doing to entice them to enter the world of wine? Despite our best efforts (or lack thereof, in many areas) the majority of Millennials still think wine is pretentious, difficult, boring and for old people.

The tricky thing here is that they’re also not that gullible – yes, their tastes are still developing and they might jump off the gin bandwagon and onto the craft beer one, then off to the next taste sensation in a couple of months – but underestimating their tastes simply because they’re young would be a big mistake. Many of these kids started eating sushi while they were still in diapers. That means we won’t necessarily bag them with a box of Sweet Red in Bohemia, or a Cherry Berry Infusion Wine Spritzer (a)Bomb(ination) so sweet that Tim Noakes’s blood sugar spikes vicariously.

We need to be smart about this, and we need to pay attention – we can get a head start simply by keeping a close eye on how the USA handles this – and see how we can start to corral these future super-consumers to be as obsessed with wine as they are with InstaSnapTwitBook. If we don’t, by the time the Peter Pan generation hits their financial stride, they’ll be taking their thirst and their business elsewhere.

• Marthélize Tredoux is the co-owner and editor at Incogvino. By day, she helps SA wineries sell their wine in the USA. She won the Veritas Young Wine Writers Competition in 2013.

While the 2016 edition of Platter’s has yet to review the 2014 vintage of Meerlust Pinot Noir let alone the 2015, last year’s wine is indeed commercially available – R241.45 a bottle from Liquor City Claremont – which does seem extraordinarily early.

Needless to say, the wine currently appears extremely youthful. Red and black cherry and toasty oak are the predominant characteristics but also a little musk and even blood. The acidity appears quite tart and it feels a bit angular all in all. No doubt a good year or two before it starts to show anything like its true potential.

#WinemagRating: 87/100.

Great as a light summer lunch.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
16-24 large prawns (shell on)
200ml olive oil
2 tsp crushed garlic cloves
30ml lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Peri Peri sauce:
50g red chili
5 garlic cloves, crushed
500ml olive oil
1 tsp paprika

Method:
1. Wash the prawns in cold running water.
2. Cut open the backs and remove the dark vein but do not remove the shell.
3. Blend the red chilli, garlic, olive oil and paprika to a smooth paste.
4. Allow the prawns to marinade in the peri peri sauce for 30 minutes in the fridge.
5. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add prawns skin-side down.
6. Cook the prawns 30-45 seconds on each side.
7. Remove from the pan and serve with extra periperi sauce and lime wedges.

Wine pairing:
No wine cries out for peri peri sauce but a young, unwooded white should be feisty enough to stand up to the heat of the sauce. Bear in mind that chili will increase the perception of fruit but also the perception of alcohol so choose something appropriately light.

• Recipe supplied by Source Food – a Cape Town-based food agency that specializes in experiential marketing. They will create a recipe or meal to communicate your brand’s message.

It’s seldom that I visit a winery at harvest time. First, because the people there are too busy for me to presume a welcome: Jancis Robinson describes wine writers as parasites on the wine industry, and while grapes are being picked and vinified I particularly feel the point of her admission. Secondly, if the welcome is forthcoming, it might too easily be as a worker, and I could find myself with aching muscles or sticky hands: both of which conditions I greatly dislike. (Writing is – just – preferable.)

A few Saturdays ago, however, at 8 in the morning I turned up at the door of the cellar which Chris and Suzaan Alheit rent on Hans Evenhuis’s spacious farm Hemelrand, on a high ridge in the Hemel-en-Aarde. In fact I was expected, and hadn’t come far – Hans has a cottage just alongside the cellar, and at the last minute had offered it to me for the two nights of the Pinot Celebration, an offer I gratefully accepted (that’s a disclosure of interest, by the way). Hans also left me a bottle of his Vine Garden 2014, of which more below.

My rare harvest-time winery visits invariably find a happy scene, with lots of hard work, shaped by the human thrill of creation and transformation, and the human satisfaction of cooperation to a common end. So it was at Hemelrand. The first task of the day was to unload the chenin blanc from the (hired) refrigerated truck that had waited outside overnight, and to note the weight of each case before tossing the grapes into the press. As you can see from the photo, Chris was more pleased with these grapes than some of those he’s brought in in this desperate harvest for dryland vines.

The time of sticky hands was approaching, though Chris didn’t require my paltry efforts; rather, he offered a taste from the cloudy (and only slightly sticky) communal glass of freshly crushed juice. “What’s the Balling?” he asked his team, while checking the sugar solution with his refractometer. They were pretty close.

There’s an extent to which you can gauge the international reputation of a winemaker by the cellar assistants he attracts. Chris is doing pretty well. On his team this year are Alice Chidaine, from Domaine Francois Chidaine in Montlouis, one of the Loire’s great chenin terroirs, and Louis Reynaud from the family at Château Rayas, the grandest name in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, somewhat further south. The “New World” is represented by Dan Callan from Paso Robles in California, and home by the Alheits’ new assistant winemaker, Poenie Lourens (previously at Edgebaston, and more formally known as Franco) – we’ll be hearing much more about him soon, I reckon, as he has his own label: there’s a Howard John carignan which is fruity and tasty but riper than Poenie himself wanted, and a verdelho yet to be released, which is rather finer; but watch this space for more interesting stuff in the future.

But what of the wine grown in Hemelrand’s own vineyard nearby the cellar (dwarfed in scale by the olives which are the farm’s central concern, and give an excellent oil)? It’s planted to a mix of roussanne, chardonnay, chenin and verdelho, and the tiny first vintage, 2014 (just roussanne supplemented by grapes from elsewhere) was made by Chris and bottled, for the mailing list only, under the name Vine Garden – a pretty name, punning on the German weingarten, meaning vineyard. That’s the bottle that was in my fridge, and enjoyed by me a few days later. But, ripely charming and pretty though it was, the 2015, of which I’ve had a sneak preview, is much more vibrant, intense and convincing. It’s the first wine properly expressing this Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge vineyard, and also made in the Alheit cellar, of course. It’ll be released with the Alheit wines mid-year – and a worthy companion to the illustrious wines on that list.

Tim James is founder of Grape.co.za and contributes to various local and international wine publications. He is a taster (and associate editor) for Platter’s. His book Wines of South Africa – Tradition and Revolution appeared in 2013.

Donkiesbaai is a label begun by Jean Engelbrecht of Rust en Vrede, grapes for this Chenin Blanc from a Piekenierskloof vineyard planted in 1979.

With an approximate retail price of R200 a bottle, its positioning in the market is ambitious but the actual wine itself is a model of restraint. In the case of the current-release 2014, just 50% of the wine was fermented and matured for five months in oak, of which only 10% was new.

The wine shows pear, citrus and some lanolin and carries its 14.29% alcohol extremely well – in fact, it appears lean and fresh with lovely fruity purity before a long, saline finish. It’s a sophisticated offering that should appeal to all fans of serious Chenin.

#WinemagRating: 93/100.

1. Include something to suit every taste AND every budget
Most punters are going to order that Chardonnay-Pinot Noir blend but there are those of us who’d like something more rewarding. In a similar vein, the undergraduate student out on a date is going to have different spending power to the investment banker who’s just closed a deal.

2. Don’t list a wine if you can’t keep it stock
There’s always one wine which offers great quality relative to price. It’s always the wine that’s sold out.

3. Do serve wine at the right temperature
Wine shouldn’t be stored next to the pizza oven – lighter style red wines should be served at 10 to 14⁰C and full-bodied reds at 16 to 18⁰C.

4. Filling of the glasses
Don’t over-fill. Five pours out of one bottle for a table of six is an obvious and crass way of bumping up the bill. We saw what you did there. Also, don’t recharge the table’s glasses too often – we’re trying to have an elegant dining experience not play boat races.

5. Have a good selection wines available by the glass
If he’s having the steak and she’s having the salad, it’s difficult to choose a bottle of wine to pair with both dishes. Sweet wines are particularly suited to by-the-glass – SA makes some great examples but it’s difficult to finish a bottle in one sitting.

6. Don’t use wine to subsidise the food
Reasonable mark-ups mean we’ll be more inclined to order another bottle and in the age of Uber, there aren’t any repercussions.

7. Don’t list Chenin Blanc under “Other varieties”
If you have no wine knowledge, buy it in.

8. Invest in decent glassware
Thankfully the era of the Paris goblet is over but we’re not sure about the rise of the stemless glass as preferred by hipsters. It doesn’t have to be Riedel but a thin rim and big bowl would be appreciated.

9. Print your own wine list and keep it up to date
An item crossed out by hand does not a deluxe impression make.

10. Get the wine to the table slightly before the food arrives
Food and wine matching is what we geek out on. Bringing the wine just as plates are starting to be cleared: #Fail.

11. Don’t make the us feel awkward about sending the wine back
The wine might or might not have cork taint. It’s our prerogative to decline it and it’s the producer’s obligation to replace it.

12. Don’t let a corporate buy your wine list
SA wine has never been so exciting and your wine list should reflect that.

Danie de Wet was awarded this year’s 1659 Medal of Honour jointly presented by Groot Constantia and Die Burger at a blessing of the harvest ceremony held on 2 February.

The award is given to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the wine industry, Norma Ratcliffe of Warwick receiving it in 2015 and Jan Scannell, former MD of Distell, in 2014.

From the February issue of Decanter: Those keeping a close watch on the South African wine scene will have noted the very fine own-label wines of David and Nadia Sadie, the couple at the forefront of the new generation winemakers. Sadie, aged 31, recently took up a position at the Swartland property Paardebosch. There’s a vineyard of Pinotage established between 1991 and 1993 on granite here so if he wasn’t inclined to work with controversial variety before, he’s compelled to now.

His maiden vintage 2014 is super-exciting, the winemaking involving 15% whole-bunch fermentation and maturation lasting 19 months in French oak, none new. There’s also 10% Shiraz in the mix to keep things interesting and it’s only 12.5% abv,

Contrast this with the Redhill Pinotage from Simonsig. This Stellenbosch property was founded in 1953 by the trailblazer Frans Malan and is today run by his sons, Johan being the cellarmaster. The current-release Redhill 2012 was matured for 17 months in 78% French and 22% American oak, 89% new and has an abv of 14.54%. There’s not faulting the basic quality of the two wines but they couldn’t be further apart stylistically, the Paardebosch light and fresh and the Simonsig rich and broad.

Looking at the duo side by side causes Malan to chuckle. “We made a whole-bunch fermentation Pinotage back in 1986 and we got nailed at the Young Wine Show that year. The time just wasn’t right.”

Is Pinotage becoming fashionable after its years in the wilderness? What style will prevail? Might it finally emerge as South Africa’s signature red grape? Anthony Hamilton Russell, co-owner of Walker Bay property Southern Right (and proprietor of Hamilton Russell Vineyards) says he notes a change among his international customer base: “It’s almost cool to like Pinotage. There’s a new generation of wine drinkers out there that know so little about the variety, they haven’t had the chance to develop a prejudice against it.”

Make no mistake, however. The quality of Pinotage has improved hugely over the last 20 years. Particular problems associated with the variety (its varnish-like aroma, its proneness to bacterial spoilage) have largely been addressed but it might equally be argued that any advances are simply in line with what’s happening with the South African wine industry as a whole.

“We’ve dispensed with Pinotage grown on poor sites. We’ve dispensed with “average” – it’s gone to rosé and commercial blends,” says Abrie Beeslaar of Kanonkop, home of perhaps South Africa’s most acclaimed Pinotage, as well as producing a very serious example under his own label. “A lot of Pinotage was a bit simple in the early 2000s but winemakers aren’t scared of proper structure anymore and for proper structure, you need proper extraction. That’s how you get complexity on the palate,” he says.

Pierre Wahl of Rijks in Tulbagh makes various examples of Pinotage that are typically intense without being excessively weighty. “I think there’s a realisation that a wine that’s a bit less heavy isn’t the end of the world. We’re starting to see more elegant styles – pure and clean without being boring.”

Hamilton Russell argues that many of the problems which used to beset Pinotage are not inherent to the variety but apply across the board – vineyards in warm-climate areas, excessive yields, over-ripe picking and heavy-handed oaking. “Critics have a bad Shiraz and they write off the producer. They have a bad Pinotage and the write off the grape. Thankfully, that’s changing,” he says.

So Pinotage really shouldn’t be an untouchable variety any more but where it remains tricky is that a multitude of styles prevail. One way to understand the category, although this might be considered reductionist, is to discern two camps of winemakers – the Old Guard and the New Wave. The former favour wines with a more black fruit flavour profile and rely on the use of oak to temper the sweetness or perception of sweetness that Pinotage can give; the latter champion wines with more red fruit and contend that savouriness and grip can be obtained by means other than oak. It’s a fascinating dichotomy and, in the mind of this writer, neither side is completely wrong or completely right. As Malan of Simonsig puts it, “There are many ways to skin a cat.”

A story on Pinotage would be incomplete without a word from perhaps its greatest advocate, the illustrious Beyers Truter who is currently cellarmaster at Beyerskloof in Stellenbosch and was Beeslaar’s predecessor at Kanonkop. “The biggest change I’ve seen in the last 10 years is the different styles from different areas.”

When it comes to regionality, Stellenbosch Pinotage remains the benchmark, wines from the district typically displaying black cherry, plum and blackcurrant fruit with firm tannins. But there is now another fairly well established style to consider – being more red-fruited, medium bodied and reminiscent of Pinot Noir. Such wines usually come from cooler, more maritime areas such as Walker Bay (Southern Right) and Durbanville (Altydgedacht, Diemersdal) or areas at altitude such as Spioenkop in Elgin.

“There’s never been more stylistic diversity. Winemakers are in sync with their terroir. I hope the Lord gives me another 10 years so I can find those special pockets on my own property and make something great,” says Truter, who is widely considered to have made a number of outstanding examples of the variety already.

When it comes to the younger generation of winemakers, there’s a slowly dawning appreciation that Pinotage’s alternative status might well be an asset. “Pinotage allows us to put something really South African on the market. It allows us to find our own voice rather than making copies of Bordeaux red or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc,” says Jacques de Klerk of the Winery of Good Hope, aged 34. “I think why Pinotage is starting to shape is that as an industry, we gained not only in confidence but self-understanding in the last few years.”

One version of Pinotage that De Klerk makes under the Radford Dale label goes by the name of “Frankenstein” recalling novelist Mary Shelley’s monster who becomes terrifying to its creator but is actually a composed, understated and totally appealing wine. He makes the compelling point that “new” Pinotage might not be that new at all, it recalling the extraordinarily long-lived wines of the 1970s which remain delicate, light and fresh to this day. “You could say we are reverting to our past – presentation of fruit which is pure and transparent.”

For a number of different reasons, Pinotage is coming in from the cold. The old generation of winemakers kept the flag flying when the grape was not sexy and have a wealth of knowledge to draw on. The new generation, in tune with world trends towards lower alcohol and the use of less oak, are ensuring broader appeal. That the grape is not mainstream is to its advantage as it provides the excitement of the exotic not provided by the likes of Cab and Merlot. And it’s not supposition. Pinotage has gone from South Africa’s eight most planted variety with 6 664ha in the ground in 2004 to sixth most planted with 7 357ha in 2014.