Greg Sherwood MW: Winners and losers in a warming wine world

Anyone who works in the wine industry will be all too aware of the effects of climate change on global wine production. Wine farms may be blessed with some of the world’s most scenic locations, but they are often situated in marginal climates where high-quality winemaking and vine growing teeter on a climatic and viticultural knife’s edge.

Interestingly, the European summer of 2025 is set to be the warmest on record for the UK, the Met Office reported this week, after four mini “heatwaves.” The mean temperature is currently tracking at 16.13°C, significantly above the 2018 record of 15.76°C. As a South African in London, I am thoroughly enjoying the warm, balmy days – the likes of which we have not experienced since the Covid-19 lockdown summer of 2020.

It isn’t only the South African and Antipodean communities in the UK that are enjoying the sunshine. The English and Welsh wine industry is experiencing some of its most beneficial vine-growing conditions ever, allowing producers even in marginal terroirs to ripen both white and red cultivars optimally. It is therefore unsurprising that the UK is currently the only European country where vineyard plantings are expanding rather than shrinking.

Yet, as the saying goes, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” Global warming is affecting vineyard regions disproportionately. Just this week, the Guinaudeau family, owners of world-famous Bordeaux Châteaux Lafleur and Grand Village, announced they would leave the Pomerol and wider Bordeaux appellations from the 2025 vintage onwards, adopting the more flexible designation of Vin de France instead.

In a striking press release, the Guinaudeau family explained: “Our decision-making and the resulting practices… are evolving much faster than what is authorised in our appellation system. Our off-the-beaten-path philosophy leads us to make strong and sometimes radical changes – crucial if we wish to continue producing the Lafleur wines we dearly love; wine of great terroirs and noble ancient genetics, crafted to embody the essence and spirit of Lafleur, year in, year out.”

They continued: “Climate is changing fast and hard, that much is clear. The vintages 2015, 2019 and above all 2022 were strong evidence of that. 2025 goes a step further. We must think, readapt, act. Our decision-making and practices are evolving faster than what is authorised in our Appellation de Origine system. This decision allows us to face the reality of climate change with precision and efficiency.”

In the Cape winelands, it is nearly impossible to walk a vineyard without asking how global warming or climate change is affecting the vines, the winemaking, and the established wine styles. Responses vary: growers in the Swartland or near Vredendal on the West Coast face different challenges from those in cooler Elgin, Hemel-en-Aarde, or Constantia.

One message is universally shared: the importance of water – or the worrying lack of it. Several recent days spent with producers in the Helderberg and along the Eerste River confirmed this. None reported detrimental effects from rising temperatures, thanks in large part to cooling winds from icy False Bay, often within five kilometres of their vineyards. The Helderberg’s vineyard altitude further tempers summer heat.

Equally striking is the incredible terroir of what I call the “golden triangle” near the Eerste River along the R310 highway, home to Vergenoegd Löw, Meerlust Estate, and Winshaw Vineyards. These historically premium estates produce classical, age-worthy, maritime-influenced wines.

My visits to this golden triangle have been illuminating. At Meerlust Estate in July, cellar master Wim Truter gave a detailed masterclass on the soils and terroirs, demonstrating their impact on single-cultivar wines and blends such as Rubicon and Meerlust Red. The 2021 and 2022 vintages are live examples of their terroir in technicolour – in bottle.

At Winshaw Vineyards, last year I spent an afternoon with JP and Pierre exploring their circa 50 hectares. Their high-quality grapes feed both their boutique label and top Cape producers including Rupert & Rothschild and Raats Family Wines..

Vergenoegd Löw, now under German industrial ownership, is undergoing significant replanting and renewal. The ambitious drive aims to reestablish the estate as one of the Cape’s preeminent historical premium wineries. Winemaker Vusi Dalicuba, in charge since 2022 and an Elsenberg College graduate, is already experimenting with Pinotage, Cinsault, and Syrah alongside the estate’s renowned Cabernet Sauvignon.

Vergenoegd Löw New Releases:

Sauvignon Blanc 2025, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv
Planted in 2017, 1.5ha yielding 10 tons. Short skin contact, tank fermented, 2/3 fill barrel and concrete egg. Perfumed and fragrant with white flowers, apple blossom, guava, and white peach. Elegant, fine-boned, pure and focused with a crystalline texture and plush mouthfeel, finishing with a delicate limestone mineral kiss. 92+/100 GSMW

Cabernet Franc Rosé 2025, WO Stellenbosch
4,000 bottles from young vines planted in 2021. Rich, complex, savoury red-fruited aromatics of musk, red cherries, and hints of strawberry. Full, fleshy palate with breadth, depth, freshness, and wet-stone minerality. A multi-dimensional Rosé. 92/100 GSMW

Chardonnay 2024, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv
Distinctive saline fragrance, notes of white citrus, limestone, white peach, and honeydew melon. Savoury and salty palate with umami notes of kelp and oyster shell, honeycomb, lemon cordial, and dried herbs and spices on the finish. 91+/100 GSMW

Florian Shiraz 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv
Saline/maritime aromatics of liquorice, kelp, blackberry, and peppercorn spice. Silky, picante palate with blue-black fruit and a fresh, stony, spicy finish. 93/100 GSMW

Amalie Merlot 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv
Dark, broody aromatics with saline blue-black fruits, black liquorice, and crème de cassis, with smoky wet-stone minerality. Fresh, intense, plush, and crunchy on the stony maritime-tinged finish. 93/100 GSMW

Lara Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv
Dark black-fruited aromatics, with depth of black currant, damson plum, cassis, and black cherry. Linear and taut palate with tangy acidity running through the salty black fruit. Intense, cool-climate style without intrusive herbaceous notes. 94/100 GSMW

Max 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv
Blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. Smoky black fruits, stony graphite minerality, hints of salty black currant, and umami kelp. Plush palate with creamy powdery tannins, fleshy Merlot opulence, and delicately stony saline persistence. Harmonious and accomplished. 95/100 GSMW

We seem to live in an era where wine writers and critics drive ever further from Cape Town in search of the new or undiscovered. Yet right under our noses, along a stretch of highway many of us traverse weekly, lies a golden triangle of wine terroir that is both unique and remarkable. When last did you visit one of these three wineries?

• Greg Sherwood was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and as the son of a career diplomat, spent his first 21 years traveling the globe with his parents. With a Business Management and Marketing degree from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Sherwood began his working career as a commodity trader. In 2000, he decided to make more of a long-held interest in wine taking a position at Handford Wines in South Kensington, London, working his way up to the position of Senior Wine Buyer over 22 years. Sherwood currently consults to a number of top fine wine merchants in London while always keeping one eye firmly on the South African wine industry. He qualified as the 303rd Master of Wine in 2007.