Nuvo Nivo South Africa Harvest Report
by angelo
Harvest 2026 was a rollercoaster. Whenever I write a ‘harvest report’, it starts with something along those lines. We wade into the several weeks of organised chaos fairly readied and prepared, and very quickly one realises that all of that planning and forethought goes out of the window. For those few weeks you are at the whim of the elements and Mother Nature. You have to surrender and go with the flow. It’s how it’s always been, and how it always will be. You have to trust your gut a lot, and you have to trust the process. The rest is alchemy.
Nuvo Nivo South Africa started with two wines, a Chenin and a Merlot. The Chenin is from the incredible Welbeloond vineyard, planted on decomposed shale with uninterrupted views of Table Mountain. Andrew Mellish is the farmer here, a passionate, softly spoken man who took over his family farm and felt compelled to change the status quo. The fruit that we get from this vineyard continues to astound me. 2026 was some of the most pristine and beautiful crop I have seen come off these slopes. They are hardy little bush vines these, and the fruit is usually golden when we pick it. We try not muck around with it very much, and this year, we decided to not add any sulphur whatsoever during the fermentation and elevage. The wine punches way above its weight. It’s textured and layered and brimming with energy. It tastes way more expensive than it is. Which is always a good thing, and kind of the point with these wines.
Houmoed farm in Paarl is the home of our Merlot, and this year we decided to add a little bit of Syrah from here to blend into the Merlot component. Gerard Freyter is the farmer here. He’s a philosopher and a deep thinker, and he works this little unicorn vineyard biodynamically. Biodynamic vineyards in South Africa are a rarity; you hardly ever hear of them, but excitingly, we’ve found this. The vineyard grows alongside bay leaf and rosemary plantings, and just feels really special. Paarl is certainly not the sexiest of regions to grow and make wine. It’s a little bit forgotten sadly, but often that’s where you find the gems. Right under everyone’s nose. I found this vineyard when Gerard’s brother replied to a classified ad I posted online, and it’s been a beautiful thing getting to know him and this little slice of the Cape. It’s tucked under Paarl Rock in the middle of town. We tend to pick this vineyard a little bit earlier to keep the wine fresh and bright and chillable. The addition of Syrah to this 2026 vintage has added a really nice layer of spice and savouriness, and brings us a step closer to almost working with the entirety of Gerard’s farm and fruit. Everything was destemmed and co-fermented this year, and elevage is again in old oak barrels. At the time of writing, the wine is now racked off its gross lees, ageing for the next 10 months before bottling in the spring.
The Modal Nuvo Nivo project has been inspiring for many reasons. Making wine as a negociant producer can sometimes leave one feeling a little detached from the vineyard work and fruit handling. It’s unfortunately the nature of the circumstance when you aren’t farming your own grapes. Agriculture is obviously fundamental to what we do. In South Africa we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to vineyard conversions to natural and clean farming. For a lot of people, the incentive isn’t there. The numbers don’t always add up. It requires effort and determination, and often it takes years before you start seeing the results. It’s hard. Nuvo Nivo however presents a really exciting opportunity to support small, like-minded growers in their farming efforts. Moving forward, the hope is that we can use this as a platform to further expand and incorporate more farmers who are wanting to either convert or continue their organic endeavours in the vineyards. We won’t change things overnight, but it’s a first step towards getting more people on board with this philosophy, and just like harvest, we’re trusting our guts, and we’re trusting the process.