Henry Jeffreys: South Africans at work in English wine

Cara Dely of Bolney.

Cara Dely’s first vintage as head winemaker at Bolney in Sussex was something of a baptism of fire. Actually make that a baptism, full stop, because 2021 was one of the wettest summers in recent memory. “It rained and rained throughout harvest,” she said. To add to her woes, pandemic regulations were playing havoc with logistics: “We had no pickers, no petrol, no truckers, and we all caught Covid and we had to self-isolate.” She thought, what am I doing trying to make wine in this damp, chilly country rather than back home in South Africa?

Similarly when Jackie Wilks’ family who are from Johannesburg bought a vineyard, Terlingham in Kent, her old friends thought they were insane. “Why would you make wine in England, you’re in the wrong place!” she explained. But others were more supportive including their first winemaker Kobus Louw. He came over in 2001, a pioneer in English wine’s now sizeable South African foreign legion.

It was another couple of outsiders, Sandy and the late Stuart Moss from Chicago, who put England on the wine map. Noting the similar climate and soil to certain sparkling wine region in Northern France, they planted Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunnier at Nyetimber in 1988 and produced a genuine Champagne challenger with their very first release, the 1992 Blanc de Blancs. Nyetimber’s success encouraged others like Ridgeview, Gusbourne and Wiston. Today there are 3,855 hectares of vines located mainly in southeast England, up from 1,000 hectares in 1995. The industry is now well-established and domestically successful but it’s tiny by global standards. England produced 12 million bottles in 2022, Champagne’s annual output is around 300 million. “I had no idea they even made wine here,” said Den’e van Wyk who studied at viticulture and oenology at Stellenbosch.

Den’e van Wyk of Simpsons.

Van Wyk moved to London with her husband’s job. Once here, however, she discovered that something exciting was going on. “England offers a unique and almost once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be involved in the early stages of its wine industry,” she explained. Following stints in vineyards both here and in France, in 2023 she became assistant winemaker at one of the country’s most export-orientated producers, Simpsons in Kent. Another appeal for her is how connected her new home is with the rest of the wine world: “In South Africa, we often have a narrow view, thinking we’re the only ones making wine, not dissimilar to French’s mindset.”

England might be a great place to experience wine but as Cary Dely discovered the weather is a challenge. Van Wyk agrees: “The weather here is incredibly unpredictable—one moment it’s summer and sunny, and the next, it’s raining cats and dogs.” Former head winemaker at KWV Johann Fourie who now works with Leonardslee explained that you must do the opposite of what you’d do in South Africa: “In England you have to plant on southern slopes, keep trees to trap heat and have permanent cover beneath the vines to get rid of excess water.” Meanwhile in the winery it’s a similar story, it’s all about mitigating the high acidity and bolstering sometimes meagre sugar levels – two things that are rarely a problem in the Cape. Then there’s labour, which is plentiful in South Africa according to Dely, but increasingly hard to find especially since Britain left the European Union cutting the industry off from skilled Romanian pickers and vineyard workers.

Despite the problems, Dely was never tempted to return. She explained: “When you live in South Africa, you don’t realise that living in a constant state of stress and fight is normal. It took me months to accept that I don’t have to live on edge anymore.” Van Wyk, too, thought that her family would have a brighter future in England, mentioning, with a touch of understatement, the “challenging economic landscape” back home.

The main incentive for Fourie is the opportunity to make superlative sparkling wine. No wonder Cap Classique legend Pieter Ferreira from Graham Beck has been working with Hambledon in Hampshire on some English fizz, and Champagne houses Pommery and Taittinger have planted vineyards in England. Meanwhile Cara Dely’s employer Bolney was snapped up by Cava giant Henkell Freixenet in 2022. While sparkling wines make up 70% of England’s production, “Don’t dismiss still wine too quickly,” said Dely. English Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Blanc are fast improving and Bacchus, a German cross, is producing increasingly elegant wines. At Mousehall in Sussex Gary and Kathy Jordan and family from the eponymous Stellenbosch winery are making award-winning still wines from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay under the Tidebrook brand.

There are now South Africans all over in England. Some are making wine like Solly Monyamane, formerly of Beyerskloof, now at Artelium. While others have founded or bought wineries.

These range from the Wilks family’s two hectares to the five-hectare Wiston Estate in Sussex founded by Pip Goring from South Africa with her husband Henry, a local landowner, or Penny Streeter, the entrepreneur behind Leonardslee, who was born in Zimbabwe, raised in South Africa and also owns Benguela Cove in the Cape. South African students regularly come to Plumpton College, England’s answer to Stellenbosch University, to learn about cool climate winemaking.

These outsiders bring a unique perspective. There’s the famous South African resilience, Wilkes quoting the proverb: “’n boer maak a plan.” Fourie thinks his countrymen have a “detailed and technical approach” compared with French winemakers. The Cape is also global leader in wine tourism, most Europeans regions are far behind. This can sometimes be hard to explain to the local council as Fourie found out when they wanted to build a tourist-friendly winery on the property: “We don’t want it in an industrial area, we want it where people are visiting.”

As well as the pioneer spirit, Fourie has also brought something else from South Africa, Pinotage. Now this really does sound mad, a hot-climate grape in England but it makes sense. “It has very late bud burst to avoid spring frost and it ripens early, has low vigour, a thick skin and no green flavours. Even if you pick at 11-12% it can still make something pretty”, he said. Currently he’s using 5% Pinotage in the Leonardslee sparkling rosé and he’s made some a promising experimental red in warmer vintages. With the changing climate, don’t be surprised is Sussex Pinotage becomes a thing. You wonder what the reaction will be in Stellenbosch.

• Henry Jeffreys worked in the wine trade and publishing before becoming a writer. He is currently the drinks writer for The Critic magazine as well as contributing widely to the national and drinks press and appearing on radio and TV.  He won Fortnum & Mason Drink Writer of the Year 2022/23 and is the author of various books including Vines in a Cold Climate: The People Behind the English Wine Revolution – which was shortlisted for the James Beard award and won Fortnum & Mason drink book of the year in 2023.