South Africa · Stellenbosch

Wolf & Woman Wines

Jolandie Fouché’s Swartland-focused project turns old-vine fruit into textured Chenin Blanc, fresh-framed Pinotage and peppery Syrah.

The producer

Wolf & Woman Wines began with a 2018 vintage from Jolandie Fouché, who was raised in the Swartland and works mainly with old vines from the region. Hand-picked grower fruit ferments with no additions beyond a small amount of sulfur; substantial lees contact gives the whites body and texture, while whole clusters can bring herbal and floral lift to the reds.

The 2024 Chenin Blanc is 100% bush-vine Chenin, whole-bunch pressed and aged for ten months on gross lees in neutral French oak. Lemon, nectarine, honey, spice and hay lead into a dense palate cut by bright acidity. Pinotage brings cherry, currant, herbs and spice in a concentrated but fresh shape, while Syrah moves through berries, flowers and pepper toward juicy fruit and silky tannin.

Known for

Old-vine Swartland Chenin Blanc, with Pinotage and Syrah shaped by native fermentation, lees and whole clusters.

Notable facts

The story

Asking to Begin

Before starting Wolf & Woman, Jolandie Fouché was still employed elsewhere. She needed to ask her employers for permission to make wines under her own project, and she has described having to dig deep to find the courage to do it. The project’s first vintage came from the 2018 harvest, when Chenin Blanc and Pinotage made up the maiden release. Fouché had grown up in the Swartland, and those first bottles drew on fruit from the region’s old vines rather than an estate she had inherited. Vine Street Imports later described Wolf & Woman as a project created in 2019, while the first vintage remains 2018.

From the atlas

Wolf & Woman Wines

At A Glance

Wolf & Woman Wines is Jolandie Fouché’s Swartland-focused project, built around old-vine fruit and a small range led by Chenin Blanc, Pinotage and Syrah. The first vintage was 2018, while Vine Street Imports dates the project’s creation separately to 2019. In the glass, bush-vine Chenin carries lemon, nectarine and lees-built weight; Pinotage brings cherry and currant with fresh shape; Syrah moves toward pepper, flowers and silky tannin.

The Producer

Fouché was born in Cape Town and raised in the Swartland, the dry Western Cape region supplying most of Wolf & Woman’s fruit. Her B. Agric training at Elsenburg and harvest work in Australia and California precede wines made from hand-picked grower fruit, with native fermentations and only a small sulfur addition. The result is a range whose grape varieties remain easy to recognise while lees, whole clusters and site selection add body, perfume and grip.

Place

The Swartland is Wolf & Woman’s central address, with additional fruit from Voor-Paardeberg and Piekenierskloof. Within that wider area, the wines name more exact origins: 2024 Pinotage comes equally from Paardeberg and northwest Malmesbury, while 2024 Syrah is 90% Malmesbury and 10% Riebeekberg. Those separate parcels keep the labels tied to particular grapes and places rather than treating the Western Cape as one uniform source.

Soil And Site

The 2020 Chenin Blanc shows how closely this project can follow individual vineyards. Two Paardeberg sites, planted in 1971 and 1980, grow on granite; a third vineyard, planted in 1981 north of Malmesbury, sits on iron-rich red soil. These old Chenin vines supplied a wine whose later versions retain a dense, bright shape: fruit from several ground types is gathered into one dry white rather than separated into named single-vineyard bottlings.

Story

Wolf & Woman began with Fouché’s Swartland connection and an interest in old vines, not with an inherited estate. The 2018 maiden release contained Chenin Blanc and Pinotage, two grapes that still explain the project’s direction: one white capable of acidity and lees-derived breadth, one red handled with enough whole clusters to retain floral and herbal lift. Tim Atkin MW named the 2018 Chenin Blanc his White Wine Discovery of the Year in his 2019 South Africa Special Report, an early notice for a first release built from grower vineyards.

Vineyards And Cellar

The grower vineyards are described as sustainably farmed, and the fruit is harvested by hand, allowing individual lots to reach the cellar intact. Fermentations receive no additions apart from a small amount of sulfur, and no components are removed from the wines. For whites, substantial lees contact adds breadth and a textured finish: the 2024 Chenin spent ten months on gross lees in neutral, seasoned French oak. For reds, whole clusters bring stems into the ferment; the 2024 Syrah used 80% whole clusters, while the 2024 Pinotage used 15%, helping pepper, herbs and floral notes sit alongside ripe berry fruit and tannin.

Wines

Chenin Blanc is the clearest white thread: the 2024 is entirely bush-vine Chenin, whole-bunch pressed and fermented in seasoned 300- and 500-litre French oak before ageing in neutral barrels. Its lemon and nectarine fruit meets honey, spice and hay, with acidity holding the dense palate in line. Pinotage is a separate red register—100% Pinotage with cherry, currant, herbs and spice, concentrated but fresh and sleek. Syrah, also 100%, is sourced largely from Malmesbury and shows berries, flowers and pepper over juicy fruit and silky tannins. Grenache Blanc and Grenache Rosé complete the documented range, extending it beyond Chenin and the two darker reds without confusing their distinct roles.

In The Glass

Start with the 2024 Chenin Blanc: lemon and nectarine arrive first, then honey, resinous reduction, spice and dry hay. Gross-lees ageing supplies a dense middle without sweetness, while bright acidity carries the wine into a textured finish. The 2024 Pinotage turns toward cherry and currant, with herbs and spice around the fruit; whole clusters support a fresh outline, so the concentration lands with a sleek rather than heavy body. In the 2024 Syrah, flowers and berry fruit meet pepper and spice. Its high proportion of whole clusters contributes aromatic lift and silky tannin, leaving a juicy, savoury finish rather than a thick oak-led one.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose the 2024 Chenin Blanc first. It is 100% bush-vine Chenin from a producer whose work begins with old Swartland vines, then whole-bunch pressing and ten months on gross lees in neutral French oak. Lemon, nectarine, honey, spice and hay make the aroma concrete; the dense palate, bright acidity and textured finish show what the cellar is doing with the fruit. It introduces the project’s white-wine method without asking the bottle to stand in for the entire range.

Anecdote

Before Wolf & Woman could begin, Jolandie Fouché was still employed elsewhere and needed to ask her employers for permission to make the wines. Starting the project was not presented as a tidy handover into independence: she has described having to dig deep to find the courage to ask and then proceed. The first bottles eventually came from the 2018 harvest, with Chenin Blanc and Pinotage as the maiden release. A year later, Vine Street Imports would describe Wolf & Woman as a project created in 2019, but the first vintage remained 2018—the wine had already been made before the project’s later public timeline settled into place.

Final Word

Wolf & Woman is worth following through its grapes rather than a grand estate narrative: old-vine Chenin with lees-built weight, Pinotage kept bright by fruit and whole clusters, and peppery Syrah with silky tannin. Begin with the Chenin, then follow the red grapes across Paardeberg, Malmesbury and Riebeekberg.

Sources

Open Wolf & Woman Wines in the interactive map →