La Brune is a cool-climate wine project from the Elgin Valley with a “Burgundian philosophy,” focusing primarily on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They’re Vine Street’s only producer entirely based in the Elgin Valley, an area known for its cooler climate and apple production in the Cape South Coast. There is a certain seriousness and elegance that marks La Brune wines. In the same way a dog ressembles its owner, these wines make sense coming from Nico and Christelle Grobler, a down-to-earth husband/wife team. Nico, the winemaker, is a man who takes his craft very seriously – though not without a dash of South African gaiety.

Nico and Christelle are convinced that the Elgin Valley is the closest thing South Africa has to a Burgundian climate. The obsession with Burgundy comes from plenty of time spent there. Nico has done regular harvests in Mercurey at Domaine Bruno Lorenzon and considers Bruno a close friend. Nico also formerly worked as the winemaker for Eikendal in Stellenbosch. La Brune has been a side project for Nico since 2011; a decade later, he and Christelle and their two daughters moved to Elgin to focus on making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir full time under the La Brune label. They were able to acquire a 40-acre property on Viljoenshoop Rd, and it is here that they planted a small, high density, multi-clone vineyard of Pinot Noir. Chardonnay followed suit. The Valley wines (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir) are sourced from a variety of vineyards throughout the Elgin Valley, and there is a strong emphasis on blending not just sites, but clones.

Nico’s approach in the winery is meticulously back-to-basics. Using native yeast, some whole cluster on the Pinot, and mostly used oak aging, the wines are fresh and taut. True to Nico’s intentions, these wines are more Old World in style – not overtly fruity but rather savory and earthy. Fans of Burgundy or the Loire will be quite pleased with the impressive quality here. Once again, we’re reminded that it does a true disservice to a wine lover’s curiosity to paint South African wine with large brush strokes. With La Brune, there is so much more than meets the eye.