Whisky wonks had their neoprene anoraks blown off earlier this year when a Wellington whisky, the Three Ships Premium Select 5YO, was voted best blended whisky in the world by Whisky magazine. Terroirists were not surprised for the appellation at the foot of the Du Toitskloof Mountains has site specificity to burn. From Bovlei Valley Cabernets which taste almost Chilean with their blueberry favour profile to tangy Chenin Blancs from Groenberg to dense and intense Malbecs, Wellington has a taste defined by its towering mountains that hold up the southern end of the great plateau that comprises the centre of South Africa.

Named after the Dublin-born general who kicked Napoleon out of the Iberian Peninsula and triumphed at Waterloo, the battlefield and best song by Swedish songsters ABBA, wines from Wellington take no prisoners. The declaration of an independent wine district distinct from Paarl continues the process of mapping terroir that Europeans have been busy with for two millennia. Consumers will now be able to home-in like a Hellfire missile on Wines of Origin Wellington (WOW! for short) and seek out mountain wines of singular intensity, authenticity and palate power.