It's not only wine that is imbued with personality, it is also very much part of the regions from where such wines originate.

Those who have travelled to Bordeaux and Burgundy will readily acknowledge the difference between them; the former, especially the Medoc, projects an aura of grandeur mainly thanks to the châteaux on each property. Without them, the topography, even the hamlets dotted around the area, are flat and unexciting. Burgundy, on the other hand is all rural charm via its gentle slopes and quaint villages and towns, housing many of the region's cellars as well as the inhabitants. The wines too reflect their respective region's personalities.

I'm beginning to see similar evolution in some South African wine regions. I've already made the analogy between the Swartland, its wines and its people; after spending the last weekend travelling the road through Hemel en Aarde (officially preceded by 'Upper' and succeeded by 'Valley' and 'Ridge' when talking in terms of Wines of Origin, but having only recently resolved the dispute over the Hemel en Aarde Ridge, the good folks of the area are still a little sensitive about boundaries, so rather than put a toe the wrong side of the fence, I find it safer to refer to the area in general), my gut feeling tells me there is also a happy match here.

As the photos attest, the area is beautiful. Views down the valley to Walker Bay are spectacular while the vegetation-covered mountains with their soft folds provide a gentle beauty, certainly as compared with the dramatic mountain scenery around Stellenbosch. For the most part homes and cellars are in tune with these surroundings as are the several excellent restaurants.

Horse studs, fruit orchards and omnipresent fynbos claim their place as much as vineyards. The Hemel en Aarde Valley Wine of Origin is 16.5 square kilometres; of this vines cover 88 hectares, while the larger Upper Hemel en Aarde WO (32.94 square km) supports 145 ha of vineyard. (Hemel en Aarde Ridge being so newly declared, there are no vineyard figures available as yet).

Since Tim Hamilton-Russell opened up the area in the 1970s with his eponymous winery, the focus has always been on chardonnay and pinot noir and while these remain the holy grail for nearly all the producers, the varietal scope has now broadened. In fact sauvignon blanc is by far the most planted variety in the Upper Hemel en Aarde, though the Burgundian duo are firmly entrenched in the top three throughout.

There was talk at the international pinot noir tasting held last weekend (the reason for my being in the area), that these other varieties have deflected from the focus on pinot and chardonnay. That might have some credence in the short term, but there are many young vineyards, of new and better pinot clones in particular, apart from the fact that winemakers are still getting to grips with the variety. The point here is that quality is the uniform goal; the region is too small to even think of large scale brands, so premium wines (and prices!) are the norm.

It is only necessary to remember that Newton Johnson's Platter five star Domaine Pinot Noir 2008 is the first they've bottled from these young vineyards to see how high the bar is set. Incidentally, that wine won't carry the Domaine name; something else I learned this weekend is that the word Domaine is regulated as Estate. As Newton-Johnson is now registered for production of estate wines, the 2009 Pinot Noir will be the first to have Domaine on the label.

If quality is the goal and is, for the most part, achieved consistently, a Hemel en Aarde style, especially amongst chardonnay and pinot, has yet to be identified. Tastings of pinot last weekend revealed much depends on the soil type where the vines grow: clay-based gives richer wines, granite-based, lighter, fresher styles.

Much remains to be learned and achieved but the journey promises much excitement.