Meet the new winemakers taking South Africa by storm in little-known Swartland

As she drives along the dirt road to Swerwer Wines — passing whitewashed farmhouses amid rows of grape vines, silvery mist hanging in the foothills of the mountains beyond — Prisca Llagostera talks about the community that makes the Swartland wine region in the Western Cape so special. “Everybody here is best friends, even though they’re competitors,” she says. “It’s something that made me fall in love with the area.”

The southern edge of the Swartland, an area of wheat fields, olive groves and vineyards, is about an hour north of Cape Town. It makes excellent wines, particularly Chenin Blancs and red Rhône varietals, and it’s far less visited than places such as Stellenbosch, South Africa’s most famous wine region. Stellenbosch has more than 150 wineries and some of its vines were planted in the 1690s; most of the Swartland’s 30-or-so wineries were established in the past two decades.

Prisca is on a mission to shine a light on the relatively young industry. In 2023, she opened a hotel in the little town of Riebeek Kasteel. Kokos Huis is a renovated farmhouse with six bedrooms and three cottages decked out in a simple style and surrounded by palm trees and fever trees full of weaver birds. One of the perks of staying here is access to the local wine scene. Through her husband, Jurgen Gouws, the maker behind Intellego Wines, Prisca is well connected. The region isn’t like Stellenbosch where long-established wineries are clearly signposted and have fancy tasting rooms — here, knowing an insider helps.

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