Among all the strings to Johan's vinous bow, he admits to a personal favourite: Shiraz. By the time he graduated, he had already been to Europe twice. Among the many wine regions he went on to explore in subsequent travels to France, Italy, Australia and the US, his favourite remains· the northern Rhône, the traditional home of rich syrah (shiraz).
'Côte-Rôtie is my benchmark for the Simonsig Merindol Syrah.' Merindol records the eponymous Provençal village origins of their seventeenth-century French Huguenot Cape immigrant forebear as depicted on the Malan family crest.
The Malans were among the first to plant the Rôhne SH99 clone locally in the mid-1990s, experimenting with two distinctively different sites (the sandier 'orange grove site' and the granite clay-rich 'red soil site'). Johan's maiden 1997 was reserved for the Guild auction.
The 2001 went on to win WINE magazine's TOPS @ Spar Shiraz Challenge; the 2002 took gold at the South African Trophy Wine Show.
Coming close to shiraz as one of Johan's greatest delights in life is... 'Cheese!' exclaims vivacious wife Diane, 'the riper, stronger and smellier the better! Cheese is his other wife! He'll go to extraordinary lengths, test the boundaries of everyone's endurance, to indulge his love.'
Fellow Guild member Carl Schultz will attest, she reveals. On a wine study tour to Italy, Johan's pungent purchases had his travelling companion threatening to leave him at the side of the road.
'It was so bad, even the tolerant Carl was forced to tell Johan it was him or the cheese! Johan spent the rest of the journey tanging out of the car window, clutching his precious cheeses.'
Then there's fishing. 'He almost missed Lauren's birth; it's the only time he's never gone on his annual trip to Terrace Bay!' Lauren and Lisa-Jean are the couple's daughters; Terrace Bay is the fishing camp in the Skeleton Coast park in the Namib desert.
So while it's the Kaapse Vonkel Johan chooses to accompany his kreef or alikreuk on a hot summer's day at the Hangklip house, it's probably a shiraz he'd pour after a day's fishing when evening comes and the desert air turns chilly.
Hangklip crayfish soup recipe with mussels by Johan Malan paired with Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel or Simonsig Cuvée Royale Blanc de Blancs....
Pecan nut tart recipe by Johan Malan paired with Simonsig Vin de Liza Noble Late Harvest....