In the global wine conversation, “old vines” have always held a special mystique. The term evokes images of gnarled, wizened plants, their roots digging deep into the earth, producing tiny quantities of intensely concentrated grapes. While regions like France’s Rhône Valley or Australia’s Barossa Valley have long celebrated their old-vine heritage, South Africa has recently emerged as a global leader in not just celebrating, but actively preserving its viticultural treasures through the innovative Old Vine Project (OVP). This groundbreaking initiative is transforming the country’s wine industry, and nowhere is its impact more profound than in the story of Chenin Blanc.
For much of its history in South Africa, Chenin Blanc, known locally as Steen, was a humble workhorse. As the country’s most planted grape, its high yields and resilience made it the backbone of the brandy industry and the source of vast quantities of simple, anonymous bulk white wine. It was a grape of quantity, not quality, its noble Loire Valley origins all but forgotten. However, a handful of visionary producers always believed in the potential of the old Chenin Blanc vineyards scattered across the Cape Winelands, many of them planted over half a century ago and left neglected.
The turning point came with the establishment of the Old Vine Project in 2016, though its roots go back to the early 2000s. The OVP is the only organization in the world that formally certifies vineyards based on their age, with a special seal for wines made from vines that are 35 years or older. This simple act of certification has had a profound economic and cultural impact. It gives winegrowers a financial incentive to keep their old vineyards in the ground rather than replanting them with more fashionable or higher-yielding varieties. It provides a powerful marketing tool, allowing consumers to identify and appreciate wines with a unique heritage.
The project has revealed that South Africa has more old Chenin Blanc vines than the rest of the world combined. These old vineyards are a national treasure, and through the OVP, they are finally being treated as such. The wines that are emerging from these certified old vines are nothing short of revelatory. Old vine Chenin Blanc from South Africa is a world away from the simple jug wines of the past. These are complex, multi-layered, and deeply textural white wines that can stand alongside the world’s finest.
What makes old vine Chenin so special? As the vines age, their root systems become vast and deep, making them more resilient to drought—a critical advantage in South Africa’s increasingly dry climate. Their yields naturally decrease, leading to grapes with a greater concentration of flavor, acidity, and complexity. The wines they produce often have a distinctive waxy or lanolin-like texture, with a spectrum of flavors that can range from quince, green apple, and chamomile in cooler sites, to ripe stone fruit, pineapple, and honey in warmer regions like the Swartland. Crucially, they maintain a vibrant acidity that gives them incredible balance and the ability to age and evolve for many years, developing complex nutty and savory notes over time.
Producers like Eben Sadie, Chris Alheit, and David & Nadia have become standard-bearers for this new wave of old vine Chenin, crafting single-vineyard bottlings that are a pure expression of their specific terroir. They often employ minimalist winemaking techniques—natural fermentation, aging in old oak barrels or concrete eggs—to allow the character of the fruit and the vineyard to take center stage. The results are wines of incredible soul and personality.
The Old Vine Project is about more than just Chenin Blanc. It has also certified old vineyards of other varieties, including the once-maligned Cinsault (which is now being used to make beautifully fragrant, light-bodied reds) and South Africa’s signature red grape, Pinotage. But it is the transformation of Chenin Blanc that best encapsulates the project’s success.
The story of South African Chenin Blanc is a powerful testament to the value of preservation and rediscovery. It shows how a grape can be entirely redefined, its identity transformed from a bulk commodity to a national treasure. The Old Vine Project has not only saved priceless viticultural heritage from being lost forever, but it has also given South African wine a compelling and authentic story to tell the world. It is a story of resilience, vision, and the profound, soulful character that can only come from old vines.
