South Africa's philosopher winemaker

Times

18-06-2025

It's often said of a winemaker that he or she is a philosopher … but Johan Reyneke actually studied philosophy, and when you ask him about his pioneering biodynamic vineyards (the first in South Africa, which he opened back in 2007) or his winemaking techniques or his charitable work, you are as likely to hear about the Indian philosopher Amartya Sen ('if you have choices, you have power') as about grapes or vats or barrels.
It isn't hard, standing in his spectacular vineyards in the Polkadraai Hills in Stellenbosch, to see why someone lucky enough to live and work here might want to protect the place. Jackal buzzards wheel, surfing the thermals. The ocean, just six miles away, breathes cool air on to the growing grapes. 'We have found lots of hand axes, made from sandstone and carried here,' he says. 'This place was special for people long before westerners arrived.'
Reyneke doesn't do his protecting — or anything, really — by halves. He waves at an unplanted strip, where he has persuaded The Wine Society to fund a wildlife corridor. He talks about sustainability in this region of ancient soils and ruinous high-density grazing and waves towards the spot where he is building a smart winery, using local materials and expertise. Then he takes us back to his farmhouse, with its kitchen at one end and his artist wife's studio at the other, to taste his new wine range. Five single varietal wines, the whites from 2024, the reds from 2023 — all from vines that are regeneratively farmed and hand-harvested, then sold in lighter bottles (to lessen his carbon footprint).
The sauvignon blanc is citrussy and so perfumed it could intoxicate you from a foot away. The chenin blanc, from vines nearly 50 years old, has a gorgeous flavour of lemon sponge, but without the sweetness. The syrah is all black plums and thyme, the violet-scented cabernet sauvignon needs a little time. For me, the cabernet franc was the bottle to run off and drink under one of the nearby sweet thorn trees. Leafy, packed with red fruit, subtle tannins and a mineral finish. Yum.
It wasn't straightforward to get here, to this wonderful landscape and beautiful wines. Philosophy graduates do not necessarily make great winemakers. 'I knew nothing!' Reyneke says of his younger self, and he had no money either. 'I started in a little cowshed, 50 metres from here, in 1998. I did my punch-downs [the process of breaking up and submerging the solids as the wine ferments] using a broom with the bristles cut off.' The wine, he says humbly, wasn't great. At least I thought he was being humble until he pulled out a bottle of his original cuvée. Through the glass I could see something that looked like it could do with another punch-down. The cork was still in the wine. I hope it stays there.
Reyneke learnt on the job. He also formed an unconventional partnership with Rudiger Gretschel of Krone, a highly accomplished winemaker who creates beautiful premium cap classiques (as South African sparkling wines are called) and now his own still wines under his Holism label, high in the Piekenierskloof hills north of Swartland. 'I wanted to learn about biodynamics and he needed to learn how to make wine,' Rudi says. It was a fair swap.
His lucky break came when his mother-in-law sent a guest to the B&B he was running for a bit of extra cash. She turned out to be scouting for wines for a big press event in Johannesburg. At the end of the event — and Reyneke is still visibly moved, relating this — security men clustered at the doors and Nelson Mandela walked in. Young and awestruck, Johan joined the meet and greet and, in response to a kindly question from the great man, blurted out that he was a farmer. Then he cursed to himself. An Afrikaans farmer — what could appeal less to Mandela? 'But he smiled gently at me and said, 'Tell me, how are our farmers doing?''
That embracing kindness is something Reyneke displays too. He funds farm kids with potential to go to university. They are also trying to buy houses for workers, although he admits that this is going slowly. Still, 'this is a long-term vision brought to life,' says Valerie Lewis, the marketing director of his UK importer, New Generation. 'Reyneke has played the long game, investing in regenerative, biodynamic farming that not only produces exceptional wines, but restores the soil, supports the land and uplifts the people who work it.' When he was a young farmhand he saw vineyard workers lining their frayed shoes with paper. Now he is an admired winemaker with his name on the bottles, he hasn't forgotten that memory. 'You can't make beauty from ugliness,' he says, the philosopher peeking out again. 'I want this to be a farm wine business with a soul.'
Reyneke Estate Series launched on June 3 and is available from The Wine Society (thewinesociety.com); reynekewines.co.za