Founded by a German immigrant who named it after a town in Saxony, Kleine Zalze has grown grapes since 1695. Today it is one of the Cape's most confident producers, and one of its best-value.
In 2018 the cellarmaster, with twenty-six vintages made across five countries, described a 'wine farm' philosophy: most of the work is in the vineyard, the winemaking kept deliberately simple, the DNA in the site rather than the winemaker. The crucial move was made years before the drought bit. Reading the trend that the region was drying with no relief in sight, the team had spent five years training the vineyards to need less and less water. So when Day Zero came, they did not suffer as their neighbours did. The hero of the estate is old bush-vine Chenin Blanc, with root systems deep enough to shrug off a dry year, sometimes to thrive in one.
Great wines do not have to be the most expensive. The wine world's obsession with price and score talks people out of their own taste.
The cellarmaster left in 2021 after seven vintages, and his head winemaker stepped up to lead a team of young winemakers. The estate continues under its founder. We are going back to the place that made the quiet, early bet on drought, to ask whether the old vines were right.