“Second label” is useful shorthand. It is also slightly misleading.
The phrase can make a wine sound like the leftovers from a grander bottle: the fruit that did not make the cut, wearing a “cheaper jacket”. That is not what is happening with wines such as Van Loggerenberg’s Break A Leg, Trizanne Barnard’s TSW range, Yardstick’s YS wines, Abrie Beeslaar’s Cape Courage, Thorne & Daughters’ Menagerie Chardonnay or Lourens Family Wines’ Proefkonyn.
These are wines with a different brief. Some are made to be more accessible, ready to drink sooner and easier to open on an ordinary evening. Others give a winemaker room to experiment with a variety, vineyard or blend outside the main range. The ambition has not disappeared; it has simply shifted. Instead of asking how rare, intricate or age-worthy a wine can be, the winemaker might ask another very useful question: how much character can we put into a bottle people can drink regularly? Or simply: what happens if we try this?
That takes judgement. Sometimes more than you might think.
Same hands, different brief
The best way to understand these wines is not as junior versions of something more important. Think of them as another register in the same winemaker’s voice.
They often offer earlier drinking, familiar varieties and gentler prices. Others make room for a less familiar grape, an unusual combination of sites or a new cellar idea. What they retain is harder to itemise but easy to recognise: vineyard judgement, restraint in the cellar and a clear idea of what the finished wine should do.
That makes these bottles useful introductions to the people behind them. It also makes them worth returning to after you know the flagship wines. Prestige has its place. So does a bottle that over-delivers on a Tuesday.
Break A Leg began with the first Van Loggerenberg vintage in 2016, when Lukas van Loggerenberg injured his knee just before harvest and underwent two surgeries. Friends and family helped him get the wines made. A small amount of Cinsault blanc de noir, originally intended to help cover the medical bills, became the first wine in the range.
The name stuck because the wine did. Today Break A Leg includes Blanc de Noir, Chardonnay and Merlot: familiar varieties, handled with the same preference for good vineyards and uncomplicated winemaking that runs through Lukas’s more limited wines.
The range was created to offer high-quality wine at an accessible price, but it does not feel anonymous or simplified into blandness. The Blanc de Noir is properly vinous rather than merely pink; the Chardonnay favours energy and texture over an enthusiastic coating of oak; and the Merlot is the sort of supple, savoury red that makes “Monday-night wine” sound like a compliment. Which it is.
Van Loggerenberg Wines 'Break a Leg' Chardonnay 2024
TSW carries Trizanne Barnard’s initials, and that is a useful clue. These are not wines at arm’s length from the winemaker; they are a direct, everyday expression of her style.
Trizanne’s broader work is closely tied to the Cape South Coast and the ocean. In the TSW wines, that sensibility comes through as freshness, brightness and a lack of unnecessary weight. The current range includes Sauvignon Blanc, Cinsault and Syrah, giving you a white, a lighter red and a darker, peppery red without asking you to study for the privilege of drinking them.
The TSW Sauvignon Blanc is the brisk, coastal end of the range. Cinsault brings vivid red fruit and easy movement, while Syrah delivers darker fruit and spice without becoming heavy. They are straightforward in the best sense: clear in flavour, useful at the table and recognisably Trizanne.
Adam Mason’s Yardstick wines have always been guided by a “less is more” approach. The YS bottlings sharpen that idea into two particularly useful shapes: Sauvignon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon–Merlot blend.
The YS Sauvignon Blanc comes from Constantia and leans towards citrus, freshness and a gently pithy finish rather than overt tropical volume. The YS Cabernet Sauvignon–Merlot is built for uncomplicated red-wine pleasure: bright fruit, freshness and fine tannin, with enough structure to sit happily beside dinner.
These wines do not imitate Yardstick’s more serious bottlings at a lower resolution. They have their own job. They are made to be opened, poured and enjoyed without ceremony, with enough detail to keep the second glass interesting.
Abrie Beeslaar is best known for Pinotage and for wines built with patience, structure and a distinctly Stellenbosch sense of place. Cape Courage takes that experience into a more accessible Cape Blend.
Led by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Pinotage, it is broad-framed but approachable. Cabernet supplies the dark fruit and structure; Pinotage brings red-fruited lift and spice. The result is classically shaped, properly dry and useful wherever a generous Stellenbosch red is called for, from lamb and steak to a mushroom risotto and a quiet night at home.
“Accessible” is sometimes treated as faint praise. Cape Courage makes a better case: accessibility can be an intention, not a compromise.
Menagerie is not a conventional second label. It is John Seccombe’s space for exploration and experimentation at Thorne & Daughters, and the Mountain Chardonnay shows exactly why that space is useful.
The wine brings together two high-altitude sites in Piekenierskloof and the Ceres Plateau. Piekenierskloof contributes breadth, fruit and spice, while the Ceres Plateau brings a cooler, more linear and mineral feel. The parcels are fermented separately in older barrels, then blended after nine months.
The result is Chardonnay with lemon, white flowers and almond, concentration without heaviness, and a crisp, pithy finish. It is a curiosity project with a very practical outcome: a bottle you will want to drink.
Proefkonyn means “guinea pig”, which makes Franco Lourens’s intentions fairly clear. This is his playground for experimenting with varieties and processes, rather than a wine designed to resemble the rest of the Lourens Family range.
The current Proefkonyn is Verdelho from Stellenbosch. It is spontaneously fermented in older, neutral barrels, then spends ten months on its fine lees before being bottled unfined and with only coarse filtration. The wine is clean and energetic, with yellow fruit and a savoury edge.
Proefkonyn earns its place here because it shows another side of the second-label idea. This is not a lower rung on a quality ladder. It is a place where a serious winemaker can try something, have some fun and still make a wine with purpose.
Second Labels by Great South African Winemakers
“Second label” is useful shorthand. It is also slightly misleading.
The phrase can make a wine sound like the leftovers from a grander bottle: the fruit that did not make the cut, wearing a “cheaper jacket”. That is not what is happening with wines such as Van Loggerenberg’s Break A Leg, Trizanne Barnard’s TSW range, Yardstick’s YS wines, Abrie Beeslaar’s Cape Courage, Thorne & Daughters’ Menagerie Chardonnay or Lourens Family Wines’ Proefkonyn.
These are wines with a different brief. Some are made to be more accessible, ready to drink sooner and easier to open on an ordinary evening. Others give a winemaker room to experiment with a variety, vineyard or blend outside the main range. The ambition has not disappeared; it has simply shifted. Instead of asking how rare, intricate or age-worthy a wine can be, the winemaker might ask another very useful question: how much character can we put into a bottle people can drink regularly? Or simply: what happens if we try this?
That takes judgement. Sometimes more than you might think.
Same hands, different brief
The best way to understand these wines is not as junior versions of something more important. Think of them as another register in the same winemaker’s voice.
They often offer earlier drinking, familiar varieties and gentler prices. Others make room for a less familiar grape, an unusual combination of sites or a new cellar idea. What they retain is harder to itemise but easy to recognise: vineyard judgement, restraint in the cellar and a clear idea of what the finished wine should do.
That makes these bottles useful introductions to the people behind them. It also makes them worth returning to after you know the flagship wines. Prestige has its place. So does a bottle that over-delivers on a Tuesday.
Second Labels Mixed Case
The case contains one bottle each of:
– Van Loggerenberg ‘Break A Leg’ Chardonnay 2024
– Trizanne Signature Wines ‘TSW’ Cinsault 2025
– Yardstick ‘YS’ Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2024
– Beeslaar ‘Cape Courage’ Cabernet Blend 2023
– Thorne & Daughters ‘Menagerie’ Mountain Chardonnay 2023
– Lourens Family ‘Proefkonyn’ Verdelho 2025
Six winemakers, six impressive bottles and plenty of reasons to open one on a Tuesday.
R1,350.00Add to basket
Break A Leg: Van Loggerenberg Wines
Break A Leg began with the first Van Loggerenberg vintage in 2016, when Lukas van Loggerenberg injured his knee just before harvest and underwent two surgeries. Friends and family helped him get the wines made. A small amount of Cinsault blanc de noir, originally intended to help cover the medical bills, became the first wine in the range.
The name stuck because the wine did. Today Break A Leg includes Blanc de Noir, Chardonnay and Merlot: familiar varieties, handled with the same preference for good vineyards and uncomplicated winemaking that runs through Lukas’s more limited wines.
The range was created to offer high-quality wine at an accessible price, but it does not feel anonymous or simplified into blandness. The Blanc de Noir is properly vinous rather than merely pink; the Chardonnay favours energy and texture over an enthusiastic coating of oak; and the Merlot is the sort of supple, savoury red that makes “Monday-night wine” sound like a compliment. Which it is.
Van Loggerenberg Wines 'Break a Leg' Chardonnay 2024
R175.00Add to basket
TSW: Trizanne Signature Wines
TSW carries Trizanne Barnard’s initials, and that is a useful clue. These are not wines at arm’s length from the winemaker; they are a direct, everyday expression of her style.
Trizanne’s broader work is closely tied to the Cape South Coast and the ocean. In the TSW wines, that sensibility comes through as freshness, brightness and a lack of unnecessary weight. The current range includes Sauvignon Blanc, Cinsault and Syrah, giving you a white, a lighter red and a darker, peppery red without asking you to study for the privilege of drinking them.
The TSW Sauvignon Blanc is the brisk, coastal end of the range. Cinsault brings vivid red fruit and easy movement, while Syrah delivers darker fruit and spice without becoming heavy. They are straightforward in the best sense: clear in flavour, useful at the table and recognisably Trizanne.
Trizanne Signature Wines 'TSW' Cinsault 2025
R180.00Add to basket
YS: Yardstick Wines
Adam Mason’s Yardstick wines have always been guided by a “less is more” approach. The YS bottlings sharpen that idea into two particularly useful shapes: Sauvignon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon–Merlot blend.
The YS Sauvignon Blanc comes from Constantia and leans towards citrus, freshness and a gently pithy finish rather than overt tropical volume. The YS Cabernet Sauvignon–Merlot is built for uncomplicated red-wine pleasure: bright fruit, freshness and fine tannin, with enough structure to sit happily beside dinner.
These wines do not imitate Yardstick’s more serious bottlings at a lower resolution. They have their own job. They are made to be opened, poured and enjoyed without ceremony, with enough detail to keep the second glass interesting.
Yardstick Wines 'YS' Cabernet Merlot 2023
R230.00Add to basket
Cape Courage: Beeslaar Wines
Abrie Beeslaar is best known for Pinotage and for wines built with patience, structure and a distinctly Stellenbosch sense of place. Cape Courage takes that experience into a more accessible Cape Blend.
Led by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Pinotage, it is broad-framed but approachable. Cabernet supplies the dark fruit and structure; Pinotage brings red-fruited lift and spice. The result is classically shaped, properly dry and useful wherever a generous Stellenbosch red is called for, from lamb and steak to a mushroom risotto and a quiet night at home.
“Accessible” is sometimes treated as faint praise. Cape Courage makes a better case: accessibility can be an intention, not a compromise.
Beeslaar 'Cape Courage' 2023
R245.00Add to basket
Menagerie Mountain Chardonnay: Thorne & Daughters
Menagerie is not a conventional second label. It is John Seccombe’s space for exploration and experimentation at Thorne & Daughters, and the Mountain Chardonnay shows exactly why that space is useful.
The wine brings together two high-altitude sites in Piekenierskloof and the Ceres Plateau. Piekenierskloof contributes breadth, fruit and spice, while the Ceres Plateau brings a cooler, more linear and mineral feel. The parcels are fermented separately in older barrels, then blended after nine months.
The result is Chardonnay with lemon, white flowers and almond, concentration without heaviness, and a crisp, pithy finish. It is a curiosity project with a very practical outcome: a bottle you will want to drink.
Thorne & Daughters 'Menagerie' Mountain Chardonnay 2023
R295.00Add to basket
Proefkonyn: Lourens Family Wines
Proefkonyn means “guinea pig”, which makes Franco Lourens’s intentions fairly clear. This is his playground for experimenting with varieties and processes, rather than a wine designed to resemble the rest of the Lourens Family range.
The current Proefkonyn is Verdelho from Stellenbosch. It is spontaneously fermented in older, neutral barrels, then spends ten months on its fine lees before being bottled unfined and with only coarse filtration. The wine is clean and energetic, with yellow fruit and a savoury edge.
Proefkonyn earns its place here because it shows another side of the second-label idea. This is not a lower rung on a quality ladder. It is a place where a serious winemaker can try something, have some fun and still make a wine with purpose.
Lourens Family Wines 'Proefkonyn' Verdelho 2025
R225.00Add to basket