This election year something democratic is happening down in the Durbanville Wine Valley: twelve farms are each contributing 1 tonne of Sauvignon Blanc grapes each towards a maiden Durbanville Wine Valley branded 12-in-1 Sauvignon Blanc, with all the grapes harvested on the same day, last Tuesday February 18th, and pressed the same day. And we were there, from picking to pressing. This adventure may well be a first – other routes have blended barrels of red wine from different farms, most notably the R320 blend in the Hemel en Arde and the R62 blend in the Klein Karoo, but not grapes picked and pressed on the same day.

Of course the sea-breeze-cooled Durbanville Wine Valley has an established reputation for Sauvignon Blanc. Indeed, Diemersdal and co-op-style Durbanville Hills are renowned for it.  The former offers a range of no less than eight variants from its various vineyards, including one in Lambert’s Bay, while the latter already draws grapes from the whole valley to create its range of four Sauvignon Blancs. This is SB country.