Before Tim Hamilton Russell came along 30 years ago with his gospel of cool climate, sunshine in the winelands was a consummation devoutly to be wished. This was probably an Old World legacy: European producers were locked in a perpetual struggle to achieve full ripeness. Chaptalisation - the legal addition of sugar to the must in order to increase its potential alcoholic strength - was practised religiously, even in warm years. Despite this, average alcohol levels in Bordeaux forty years ago never exceeded 11% - compared with the near 13% of today.

It is simplistic to attribute the stylistic changes of the past four decades to global warming - though prolonged heat-waves in the summer ripening season are more common now than then. The more likely explanation is the current obsession with riper fruit, creamier tannins and earlier drinkability. The old-timers may have wished for longer hang-times - but feared the risk of late summer rains in an era before there were effective chemical sprays to combat the rot which might follow a deluge.

Now, as Michel Bettane memorably observed, there are no bad vintages - only small ones. Producers nowadays can pretty much ensure that - irrespective of the summer weather - some perfectly ripened grapes will finally make it to their cellars. In a good vintage, the attrition will be very small. In what previously was called a bad one, a rigorous selection eliminates 80% of the fruit to yield the 20% worthy of the Grand Vin label.

Poor ripening conditions have never threatened the beauty sleep of South Africa's wine producers. The only reason a premium used to be attached to warmer sites was because they ripened fruit sooner than cooler locations. Farmers were paid the minimum price for the presumed volume of wine (at 10% alcohol) that their grapes would produce. Accordingly, bigger yields or higher sugars were much the same thing.

In those not so distant days, Wellington, just beyond Paarl, was a smart place to farm. It was still nominally in the Coastal Region, but, being warmer and drier, offered the near-certainty of higher sugars with less risk of rot. However, when cool became fashionable, Wellington became a bit of a backwater.

Now a new generation of Wellington producers has set out to right this wrong. Some, like Schalk Burger Snr, have focused on larger-than-life reds. Burger, incidentally, supplies the grapes that Marc Kent uses for his Boekenhoutskloof Syrah.

David Sonnenberg at Diemersfontein and Thokozani manages to produce crowd-pleasers like the original coffee-mocha pinotage as well as the more sophisticated Carpe Diem selections. Petrus Bosman at Bosman Family Vineyards is already quite well known for his Adama blend. Welgegund is well-known for its Carignan and now offers an intriguing Pinotage. Mont du Toit's reds are benchmarks of the opulent, big-fruited style while Hildenbrand has a reputation for Semillon and Shiraz.

Wellington is also beginning to see some significant investment. Dennis Kerrison has transformed the old manor house at Doolhof into an unusual and finely decorated boutique hotel located alongside a modern cellar and tasting room. His wines, made since 2009 by Friederich Kuhne, reflect his commitment to a less pumped-up interpretation of Wellington fruit.

For a start, there are several impressive whites: a tropical, plush yet very fine 2009 sauvignon blanc, an elegantly balanced unwooded 2009 chardonnay and an oaked version of which the 2006 is the standout example. Of the reds, the malbec is rightly a flagship - with the 2007 collecting a double gold at the 2009 Tri-Nations Challenge. Younger (unreleased) vintages confirm that both cabernet franc and malbec should form the backbone of any proprietary red from the Doolhof cellar.

Wellington - once the roadworks on the N1 are completed - is less than an hour from Cape Town. The town itself has some beautiful old buildings. However, it is the wine properties in the shadow of the breathtaking Bain's Kloof Pass that now demand more than a detour.