Hartenberg Sauvignon Blanc 2024

This Sauvignon Blanc comes from the Hartenberg estate, one of the oldest vineyards in South Africa, established on the northern slopes of the Bottelary Hills, some twelve kilometres north of Stellenbosch. The vines grow at around 250 metres above sea level, on red gravel soils, under a temperate Mediterranean climate cooled by ocean breezes, conditions that favour even ripening and lovely tension.

The estate farms its vineyard according to the principles of regenerative viticulture, attentive to soil life and biodiversity. After the harvest, the grapes are vinified so as to preserve the aromatic purity of the variety, then the wine rests for four months on its lees. This short ageing brings texture and length without altering the natural liveliness of the Sauvignon.

This wine reveals notes of redcurrant, lemon, lime, grapefruit zest, passion fruit, guava, blackcurrant leaf and freshly cut grass. The juicy, thirst-quenching palate rests on lively acidity that stretches the fruit through to a clean, saline finish, where citrus zest returns with brilliance.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s.



Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles.



South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.



The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.