Four Seasons Joburg hosts exclusive Atlas Swift wine dinner

On 20 March, Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff Johannesburg will host an intimate dinner with Atlas Swift, one of South Africa’s most quietly coveted wine labels.

Husband-and-wife team Martin Smith and Welma Smith are the winemakers behind the Franschhoek-based label. Their philosophy focuses on sourcing a single cultivar from five distinct Cape regions and crafting each into a separate wine, allowing the character of the grape and the terroir to take centre stage.

From the chalk soils and salt air of the Cape South Coast to the sun-warmed valley floor of Franschhoek, each bottle expresses a different sense of place. Production is small, and encounters with the range outside of the Cape are rare.

A celebration of Cape terroir

A defining example of this philosophy is the winery’s celebrated Chardonnay series, where the same grape is expressed across five different Cape terroirs. Each wine reflects its place of origin with clarity and distinction.

While the full range explores five regions, a curated selection will be presented during the evening.

A menu designed around the wines

Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg has created a multi-course menu built around the wines, with each dish designed to complement the character of the pairings.

The evening’s menu includes:

• Crayfish
• Duck with truffle
• Lamb loin en croute with slow-braised shin and sweetbreads
• Mature cheddar verrine to finish

A personal tasting experience

Welma Smith will guide guests through the wines chosen for the evening and will be available to answer questions before, during and after the dinner.

“Johannesburg has an extraordinary appetite for food and wine,” says Smith. “Bringing our wines from Franschhoek to share alongside Chef Rudi’s cooking feels like a natural meeting of two worlds that both care deeply about craft, hospitality and the pleasure of the table.”