The diversity penny drops as you consider the view from Retief Goosen’s tee-box on his Ganzekraal farm in the recently proclaimed Upper Langkloof wine appellation in the Karoo. From top to bottom below: indigenous fynbos with more Proteas than at a Pretoria wedding; Shiraz vineyards; a dam (water is a scarce commodity in this thirstland with an annual rainfall of 250mm); Cabernet vineyards; homestead.

Buying a farm called Ganzekraal (Goose Enclosure) when your nickname is The Goose is the kind of synchronicity that crops up in the whimsical world of wine and makes you think there might be something to the biodynamic paradigm that suggests a spiritual component to making wine. The farm manager, whose name I didn’t catch over the roar of arriving helicopters, certainly looks to be thriving here.