I’m sharing here on Wining.it my first South African experience as a young Italian winemaker, lived at Saronsberg Cellar.
The first feeling I had when I arrived in South Africa was one of amazement. Not because of a single place, but because of the incredible variety of landscapes. It’s a land that constantly changes its face: within just a few kilometers you can move from a nearly wooded scenery to a more mountainous one, and then suddenly reach the ocean. It’s a sequence of views that never stops surprising you.
I think the moment when I truly realized I was on the other side of the world wasn’t anything solemn or carefully staged. It came in a very simple, almost everyday way: when I tasted antelope for the first time, when I tried the local dried meat, and especially when I started hearing people speak Afrikaans. That was the moment I truly understood how far away from home I was.
I came here to experience a harvest at Saronsberg, a winery located in the Tulbagh Valley, one of the most fascinating wine areas of the Western Cape. From the very first days I realized that this experience would not only be technical, but also deeply human.
One of the things that struck me immediately was the rhythm of life and work. People work a lot, as happens during every harvest, but at the same time I felt there was more space for life. For example, weekends are generally not working days. In some ways, it feels like a more balanced lifestyle than the one we are used to in Italy.
Perhaps the most interesting difference, however, is the way relationships are experienced inside the winery. I found a great deal of attention toward the people working there. You’re not simply someone performing a task; you become part of a team. We all live together, we share the daily rhythm of the harvest, and that creates a very strong sense of group.
The wine landscape itself is also quite different from what we see in Europe. Here space dominates everything. The land is less hilly than many Italian wine regions, and this allows your eyes to wander across vast vineyard landscapes. In some places it almost feels as if the rows of vines never end.
The relationship between vineyard and nature is also different. The climate is drier and irrigation is very common. This inevitably influences how the vineyards are managed and the kinds of challenges that arise during the growing season.
Harvest days begin early. Very early.
My alarm goes off at five in the morning. We arrive at the winery a few minutes before starting, grab a coffee together, and then begin by checking sugar levels and organizing the tasks for the day. Work follows a clear order of priorities: some operations must be done immediately, while others find their place in the quieter moments.
The first task I was given when I arrived was not particularly poetic: moving crates. But in the end that’s a classic of harvest everywhere in the world.
More than big technical revelations, this experience is teaching me a lot through small details. There hasn’t been a specific moment when I thought I had learned something completely new. Instead, it’s a collection of different working approaches, small differences and nuances that enrich what I already knew.
From an oenological perspective, some differences do emerge. In some wineries I noticed a more manual approach and a fairly evident use of oak. Often there’s a tendency to make wines rounder and softer, although of course much depends on the individual producer.
Among the grape varieties I’ve encountered here, one in particular caught my attention: Pinotage. It’s one of South Africa’s emblematic varieties, and working with it has been very interesting for me, also because I had never really had the opportunity to do so before.
Sauvignon Blanc also surprised me in several ways. Here I’ve seen very large, rich clusters, thanks in part to the intense sun and irrigation. It was fascinating to observe how the same grape variety can express itself so differently depending on where it grows.
Life during harvest is not only about work. Living together creates a strong bond between people, and it is also through these moments that you begin to understand the local culture.
One thing that really struck me is the reaction people have when you try to say a few words in Afrikaans. They laugh, they smile, they almost get emotional. In a way it’s something very similar to what happens in Italy when a foreigner tries to speak our language.
If I had to describe South Africa in three words, the first would be breathtaking, because of the landscapes. Then braai, the South African barbecue, which is a real institution here. And finally stars, because the night sky is incredible: a sky full of stars like I had never seen before.
When I think about what I will take home from this experience, I don’t think only about technical skills. There will certainly be friendships that will remain, scattered around the world. And there will be the memory of my first real harvest working directly with grapes, an important step for anyone who wants to work in wine.
If a wine lover asked me why it’s worth coming to South Africa, my answer would be simple. Because it’s a different reality, and because wine is only part of the story. Here wine regions coexist with orchards, cider production, and breweries. It’s a rich, dynamic and surprising territory.
And sometimes the journey is worth it simply for what you see. For those landscapes that, every day, remind me how vast and full of discoveries the world of wine can be.
