SOIL&SEA

Forging wines of place along dirt roads and salt trails

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The Bot Riviera

Follow the yellow brick road to the Overberg's Bot River. 'Butter River' takes its name from the 1600s, when the San people bartered butter with traders along the river. Fittingly, each spring the fields turn butter-yellow with canola, patrolled by flocks of blue cranes. Home also to a number of highly respected wineries with welcoming cellar door experiences, the vibe is rustic and the wines are outstanding.

'I love the quiet dirt road we drive to work — the cows languidly crossing are our only traffic,' says winemaker, Peter-Allan Finlayson. Visit Gabriëlskloof for a tasting room with dazzling views as well as The Kitchen Door restaurant. And extend that bucolic feeling with a stay in their beautifully appointed Farm House.

DRINK IT IN: Elodie 2024. The superlative chenin blanc is part of the Landscape Series, where the labels feature artworks painted with pigments from the vineyard's own soils.

Quantum organics