The first of the Malan dynasty, Daniël Francois Malan arrived at the estate in 1872. When he bought the land it was predominantly being used to cultivate wheat, but after seeing the vineyards he decided to try his hand at winemaking. His wine was soon in demand and Daniël began to produce a sweet fortified wine, which developed into the estate’s flagship port. Today, Danie Malan is the fifth generation Malan on the Swartland estate and is Allesverloren’s current owner and winemaker.

After graduating from Elsenburg Institute for Agricultural Training in 1987, fifth-generation Malan winemaker Danie joined Allesverloren to hone his skills under the watchful eye of his father Fanie. In 1990 Danie, went on to become the winemaker, and took over the reins of owner from his father in 2003. Today this Swartland wine estate has expanded its reach to 227 hectares, 160 of which are currently under vine.

Tasting Note: Beautifully vibrant wine at 20 years old. Super bright dense ruby garnet colour suggests plenty of youthfulness. Nose opens up with some peppery, spicy, tinned red fruit metallic nuances but this quickly blows off. Such lovely complex notes of aniseed root, blood orange, spiced wine punch, molasses, liquorice and smoked meats. So seductive. Evolves in the glass by the minute. But there is such a lovely dense core of fruit on the palate. Textural and multi-layered. Bloody, savoury flavours give way to crushed raspberries, cassis, wood spice and dried baking herbs…tarragon and thyme with a subtle salty liquorice twist. Tannins are still spicy, chalky and youthfully grippy. Such an impressive package. 20 years old and singing a very fine tune. (Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)