On Thursday evening Cape Town was awash in orange as the Dutch made their presence felt ahead of their Soccer World Cup clash with Cameroon at the surreal new stadium. The sight of his countrymen walking the streets of his adopted land must have (or would have if he were there, but that I do not know) warmed the heart of Dutch businessman and entrepreneur, Fons Aaldering.

Aaldering acquired property in Devon Valley in 2004, after scouring France and Spain in vain for the vineyard he dreamed of owning. His Stellenbosch site has a total of 20 hectares of vines comprising 15 year-old pinotage, 14 year-old cabernet sauvignon, 12 year-old merlot, 12 year-old shiraz, and relatively new plantings of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

The picturesque property (seen alongside in a winter shot sourced from the press pack) is overseen for Aaldering by Helene van der Westhuizen, who also takes care of matters viticulture and viniculture. Van der Westhuizen came to Aaldering by way of Elsenburg College, a stint as cellar assistant at Die Bergkelder and more recently as cellar master at African Terroir. Her approach in the vineyard includes a strict winter pruning and a green harvest in the summer. In the cellar she conducts both the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations in stainless steel tank before transferring the wines to small French barrels for 24 months.

Fons Aaldering launched the maiden 2007 vintage under a beautifully simple logo in the Netherlands around February this year, three months before tackling the South African market. During that short period, he secured more than 100 restaurant listings, 12 of which have one, or two, or even three in the case of Librije, Michelin stars. Locally, the wines are available from specialist wine shops at approximately R120 as well as at the cellar door.

At the South African launch lunch held in May, the maiden trio - a pinotage, a shiraz and a cabernet sauvignon-merlot blend - found favour with wine writers and buyers. The same could not be said when they ran out onto the pitch at our NEW RELEASES tasting. To a man, we found them ripe and overly concentrated (almost porty in the case of the shiraz, said Ingrid Motteux) with obtrusive sweet vanilla oak flavours and unresolved tannins. Scores grouped around the 14 points mark, with a high of 16 for the pinotage from Tim James, who found the slight bitterness beneficial.

The style bottled here by Aaldering and van der Westhuizen appears similar to 'modern Spain' - think Toro. Here, too, wines are rich and dense, lavishly oaked, designed to stop the drinker in his or her tracks. Not with subtlety but with power and presence. It's a valid style, and one many people appreciate; on the day, it just wasn't us.