Rose Murray Brown on wine

Standing in a windswept vineyard in Elgin – that's Elgin, South Africa – reminds me of home. The Cape winemakers call this their "highland" region, and I can see why. There is a chilly breeze blowing across this 400m plateau ringed by mountains, with views of oaks, forests, orchards, roses and vineyards.

For years Elgin was known for its apples and pears; now it's gaining a reputation for wines. Vines were first planted in 1898 by Sir Antonie Viljoen, who studied at Edinburgh University and bought a farm in Elgin where he planted fruit trees, English oaks, roses and vines. His vines didn't survive, but his oaks and apples did.

A century later, when the price of fruit fell, orchard owners looked for something else. Edmond Lombardi of Applethwaite farm had created the famous Appletiser juice here in 1966, but other farmers wanted to get out of apples – so they tried planting sauvignon blanc.

One of the late 20th-century wine pioneers was Andrew Gunn, who named his estate Iona after his Viking ancestry (with a longboat on his label). He planted in 1997, launching his first wine in 2001. It won acclaim for its combination of ripe pungency and crisp, crunchy grapefruit acidity.

Now there are 24 vine growers with big names such as Neil Ellis, Gyles Webb of Thelema, Mike Dobrovic of Mulderbosch, Ross Gower (ex-winemaker from Klein Constantia) and Paul Cluver.

So why is Elgin so suited? This high altitude area in Overberg has cold winters and cool summers, with cooling cloud cover and deep, mineral-rich soils. Harvests are several weeks later than the Cape's other famous white wine region, Constantia.

Sauvignon blanc is what Elgin is now known for, but it shows promise for chardonnay, semillon, riesling and late harvested whites. I am not quite so taken with its reds: pinot noir, syrah or merlot. Elgin could also have a future in sparkling wine, as Ross Gower is proving with Elgin chardonnay bubbly.

Rose offers the only wine courses in Scotland hosted by a Master of Wine www.rosemurraybrown.com

The best of the blancs

8.95

L'Art du Vin, Edinburgh; Fine Wine Co, Musselburgh

La Barry Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Martin Meinert

Pungent lime and gooseberry aromas, rich, fleshy, zippy acidity.

9.49

Waitrose, www.waitrose.com

Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Tropical fruit aromas, sleek, minerally stonefruit flavours.

12.50

Swig, www.swig.co.uk

Tokara Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Very impressive, nettly, bright green apple fruit, nutty edge; superb quality.

• This Article was first published in The Scotsman on Saturday March 27, 2010