Margaux Nel, sixth-generation winemaker at Boplaas Family Vineyards since 2007, marked her 19th vintage in 2025. With a deep passion for Portuguese cultivars, she completed her MSc in Viticulture on Touriga Nacional and has since focused on producing dry table wines from these grapes – expanding beyond the fortified Cape Ports for which the Nel family is internationally renowned.
Alongside her work at Boplaas, Margaux also creates wines under The Fledge & Co. label with her husband, Leon Coetzee – handlanger and marketing mind – crafting small-batch, experimental wines in the family cellar.
Alvarinho – a future cultivar
The Boplaas Alvarinho 2024 was selected by The Wine Society as a "Wine of the Future" in 2024. Buyers highlighted its suitability for the next 50 years of global wine drinking, given the realities of climate change: rising temperatures and scarce water demand grape varieties able to thrive under these extremes.
Alvarinho, widely planted in Portugal (particularly in Monção and Melgaço in the north), has been the focus of Margaux’s travels, research, and tastings over the past three years. At Boplaas, the first Alvarinho vineyard was planted in 2020 on sandy soils alongside the Nel’s River. A second block soon followed, and both now thrive in the Calitzdorp climate, producing wines with crisp acidity, zesty citrus notes, and refreshing freshness.
The Boplaas Alvarinho 2024 went on to win Best Unusual Cultivar in the Klein Karoo at the 2024 Terroir Wine Awards.
Portuguese roots in Calitzdorp
At the recent Tim Atkin South Africa Report 2025, results from Boplaas and The Fledge & Co. proved that Portuguese cultivars need not stand back for more traditional, well-known varieties.
The oldest Portuguese grape planted in Calitzdorp is Tinta Barocca. Mistakenly planted by Danie Nel (Carel’s father) in the 1970s. These old vines planted in 1982 not only form the backbone of a single-varietal Tinta Barocca wine but also bring the distinctive cocoa notes to Boplaas’s Cape Vintage and Cape Vintage “The Chocolate” fortified wines. The older the vine, the more pronounced the cocoa character—another reason why keeping heritage vines in the ground remains essential for producing complex, layered wines.
By the late 1980s, Touriga Nacional had been commercially introduced to South Africa, and Boplaas followed suit in 1993, planting it on its own roots in clay-rich soils. Further plantings came in 2004 and 2007 on terraced vineyards. Known as the “king” of Portuguese cultivars, Touriga Nacional contributes deep colour, red and black berry fruit, spice, and abundant tannin for structure and long-term ageability. It also forms the backbone of Boplaas’s Cape Vintage Ports.
Souzão, meanwhile, enhances the blend with colour, acidity, and additional complexity.
Recent accolades in the Tim Atkin SA Special Report 2025
Portuguese cultivars from Boplaas and The Fledge & Co. earned outstanding recognition:
- 93 pts: The Fledge & Co. Oupa Koos gaan see toe (Skin-contact Alvarinho with subtle quinine bitterness, lemongrass, lime, passionfruit, and a briny finish).
- 92 pts: Boplaas Touriga Nacional Reserve 2022 (Floral, lightly wooded, elegant at 14.3% alcohol, with violet, fennel, bramble, liquorice, and black cherry). Also awarded Gold at Michelangelo Awards 2025.
- 92 pts: The Fledge & Co. Souzão 2024 (Taut acidity, savoury tannins, minerality, with tobacco leaf, plum, and redcurrant).
- 91 pts: The Fledge & Co. Klein Karoo OVP Palomino 2024 (Skin-fermented 11 days, a refreshing 10.5% orange wine with musk, quince, angelica root, and salted almond).
- 91 pts: The Fledge & Co. Vagabond 2023 (Left-field white blend of 10 varieties; lime, pear, green apple, stony acidity, subtle oak spice).
- 91 pts: The Fledge & Co. Praeteritus Bosstok OVP Tinta Barocca 2022 (Dense and firm, with granitic grip, damson, fig, and black cherry; sourced from 1971 vines).
Previous Portuguese highlights
- 93 pts: Boplaas Gamka Red 2021 (Tim Atkin)
- 90 pts: Boplaas Gamka Branca 2022 (Tim Atkin)
- 89 pts: Boplaas Ring of Rocks 2022 (Tim Atkin) + Gold at Michelangelo Awards 2025 + Double Platinum at Top 100 SA Wines
- Gold for the Boplaas Touriga Nacional 2024 at the Michelangelo Awards 2025
Other Portuguese wines at Boplaas include Verdelho and Tinta Barocca.
Fortified Cape Ports
Boplaas’s fortified Cape Ports are crafted from Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barocca, and Souzão, following the traditional Portuguese method: open fermenters (lagares), foot treading and pump-overs for 4–5 days on the skins, then racking, fortification, and extended barrel aging. This meticulous process requires patience and time – qualities the Nel family has nurtured for generations.
- 97 pts: Boplaas Colheita 20-Year-Old Cape Tawny 2005: "One of the greatest Cape fortifieds I’ve ever tasted… fig, date, caramel and dried fruit, balsamic lift and nutty rancio finish. Stunningly good, it lingers on the palate for more than a minute." - Tim Atkin + crowned Best Sweet Wine of the Year at Top 100 SA Wines.
- 94 pts: Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve 2015 (Based on Touriga Nacional with 10% Tinta Barocca and Souzão. Rich, dense, layered, with damson, fig, and dark chocolate, deftly integrated spirit, and 99 g/l residual sugar).
- Double Gold: Cape Vintage Reserve 2021 & 2022 (Michelangelo Awards).
- Double Platinum: Cape Vintage Reserve 2023 (Top 100 SA Wines).
Boplaas wines, ports and spirits are available at fine retailers across South Africa, and can also be ordered online from boplaas.co.za. Visit us at our tasting rooms in Calitzdorp, Hartenbos, George, and Plettenberg Bay.