Written by: Clifford Roberts; Photography: Johan Viljoen
Get to know wines of the Swartland and you’ll soon spot a trend: a remarkable number of labels written in Afrikaans. It’s not by chance, and it’s worth looking at in the year the language reaches a milestone.
It was 100 years ago, in 1925, that Afrikaans became an official language of South Africa. Its existence, however, goes further back. Long before its formalisation, Afrikaans emerged organically in the countryside, shaped by a confluence of influences. The Swartland, often cited as one of the districts where Afrikaans first took root, played a crucial role in this linguistic evolution. The language was born from the interaction between European settlers, foreign slaves from diverse countries, and indigenous Khoikhoi, forming a linguistic tapestry still evident and evolving today.
Afrikaans in the Landscape and Labels
Afrikaans is etched into the Swartland’s landscape. The names of towns and mountains tell stories of the past, including Riebeek Kasteel and Kasteelberg (castle mountain), Piketberg (commando or outpost mountain), and Koringberg (wheat mountain).
The region’s heritage continues in its wines, where wine producers embrace Afrikaans as a medium to express place, history, and sentiment.
Among the Swartland producers championing Afrikaans names are David & Nadia with Skaliekop (shale peak) and Hoë Steen (high chenin), and AA Badenhorst Family Wines with Dassiekop (hyrax peak), Kelder (cellar)and Klip Kop Steen (stone peak chenin), and Piet Bok se Bos Steen (Piet Bok’s Bush Chenin)—all evocative names tied to the landscape and culture.
Sout-van-die-aarde (salt of the earth) Palomino speaks to the land’s character, while Sk’windjiesvlei (breezy bog) Tinta Barocca, Raaigras (rye-grass) Grenache, Ramnasgras (a type of seasonal ground-cover planted between vineyards) and Ringmuur (boundary wall) Cinsault capture the poetry of Afrikaans in viticulture.
But there’s the winery’s famous back label too that further enriches this narrative. The label designer’s request for necessary copy resonated with the producer to such an extent that it stuck: “Hier kom jou teks oor elke wyn; Hoe droog en hoog die wingerde is; Hoe dit met trane natgemak is.” (Translation: This is where your text about each wine will be displayed; How dry and how high the vineyard lies; How it is watered with tears.)
Other celebrated wines carrying Afrikaans names include the renowned range by Sadie Family Wines: Mev (Mrs) Kirsten, Soldaat (soldier), Pofadder (puff adder), Treinspoor (railway line), Skerpioen (scorpion), Skurfberg (jagged mountain), Kokerboom (quiver tree), ‘T Voetpad (the path), Rotsbank (rock outcrop), and Blitsem—an old-vine hanepoot witblits with a nod to traditional distilling methods. The label references “historiese herlewing” (historic revival), “potketel” (potstill), “enkelverstoking” (single distillation), and “tydsame proses” (time-honoured process), evoking the deep-rooted artisanal techniques of the past.
Swerwer’s Rooi Groen (red green) and Wolwekop (wolf peak), both Semillon wines, further illustrate the expressive power of Afrikaans in winemaking, alongside Porseleinberg (porcelain mountain), Schenkfontein’s Winkelshoek Weskus (West Coast) and Weskus Rooigety (West Coast red tide), and traditional varieties labelled simply as Rooi Muskadel (red muscatel), Brandewyn (brandy), Hanepoot (muscat of Alexandria), and Schenkfontein Stofjas (dust coat). Even Was Jou Hanepoot (a Covid-era wine label playing on washing hands)by Marras embraces the language in a contemporary reference. Notably, Schenkfontein’s premium range, which includes the Truida Cap Classique, is exclusively written in Afrikaans.
Org de Rac – a winery not far from Eendekuil (duck pool) – produces Die Waguis (the guardhouse), named after an 18th century that once protected the entrance to its neighbouring town, Piketberg.
Riebeek Valley Wine Co. makes, among other things, RAAR (rare), Kasteelberg (castle mountain), and Cap Classique.
Estates that reflect cultural legacy
Wine and olive estates in the Swartland carry names that highlight the region’s Dutch and Afrikaans heritage too.
Allesverloren (all is lost), got its name when the farmhouse was razed by fire in 1704.
Kloovenburg (valley town), an old farm that has been under the custodianship of the Du Toit Family since 1958.
Hofstraat Wynkelder, the garagiste operation of Wim Smit in Malmesbury. Established in the early 2000s, its wines include Renosterbos, the Afrikaans name for an endemic plant species.
Lammershoek (lamb’s corner) was so named for a sheltered place among the hills where lost lambs could often be found.
Het Vlock Casteel (the Vlok castle), an olive and fruit farm founded by Adriaan Johannes Vlok in 1958.
Leeuwenkuil (lion’s den) Family Vineyards is said to have received the name in reference to the now extinct Cape Lion that once roamed the province.
Swartland Winery is named after the region, which itself is an Afrikaans reference translated as “black land”. There is no definitive answer to how this reference came to be. Among them is the idea that the now depleted fields of renosterbos gave its hills a dark – or black – appearance. Another suggests that it comes from wheat farming, the dominant agricultural activity of the region, and the farming practice of burning swathes of stumps left after harvest.
A celebration of diverse cultures
As far as names go, few may be as poignant in relation to the region’s cultural evolution as the name of the Paardeberg (horse mountain) farm owned for four generations by the Basson Family. Babylon’s Peak is derived from a granitic outcrop colloquially known as the Babylonstoren (Tower of Babylon).
The name occurs in a variety of places in South Africa, whether by chance or deliberately, and illustrates the melting pot that gave rise to today’s rich culture. Confusion reigns much less than it may have before. Afrikaans is more than a language—it is a living heritage expressed in the land, people, and wines of the Swartland.
• The Swartland Wine and Olive Route is a member organisation comprising the biggest representation of wine and olive producers of the Swartland region.