“Much more forgiving than the Simonsberg” is how Paardebosch winemaker Marius Malan (below) describes the fruit of the Siebritskloof, the funky new ward of the Paardeberg. And he should know after making many vintages for Slaley in that parish. “Swartland flavours are far more concentrated than Stellenbosch. Take Sauvignon Blanc for example. On the Simonsberg you have a 48 hour window before you lose your pyrazines. The Paardeberg is much more robust.” Which could explain why so many Stellenbosch winemakers buy Lammershoek grapes. Even if they forget to mention it on the label.

Does Café Dijon have the best meat in Stellenbosch? Probably, if you exclude the hunks outside with ripped abs, imitating university students. Without shirts, they are better done than Marius’s T-bone, cooked bleu. Which went remarkably well with his first Swartland Independent wine – the 2011 Paardebosch Chenin Blanc. So much for red wine with meat.

The first impression is one of funky apricots. Marius first thought it to be from the varnish on the roof of his cellar, used for the first time in 120 years last harvest. But when he recognized the same taste in the red Sémillion Pieter Euvrard made in another cellar from grapes grown on other parcels of Paardeberg vineyard, Marius now leans towards the explanation of terroir provided by the natural yeasts of Siebritskloof, which was a balmy 44 degrees under the spreading oak at Paardebosch on Sunday.

The Swartland Independent meets this evening and so Marius will have a chance to let the other revolutionaries taste his Chenin along with a more commercial 60:40 blend of Sémillon and Chenin Blanc. The latter component was foot-stomped by marvellous Marius and a Norwegian nudist. As the mercury climbs in the Boland, nudism is the new sartorial fashion. Which is carbon friendly, cheap and a most effective way to encourage wine tourism, too.