Wine of the Week 59: Intellego Wines’ The Pink Moustache 2025

“For me, various types of facial hair represent the three styles of wine: beard for red, clean-shaven for rosé, and moustache for lighter-red,” laughs Jurgen Gouws of Intellego Wines.

Jurgen can thank his friend Daniel Niepoort for the now much-loved, quirky light red labelled “The Pink Moustache”. “It began by accident during the 2016 harvest, when Daniel forgot to top up a barrel of rosé (so it evaporated more than usual). “I started topping it with red wine, thinking it only needed half a litre,” Jurgen laughs. “Turns out it needed a lot more…”

The label for the wine cleverly incorporates his logo for Intellego Wines, a scale; as do all of his offbeat, highcolour punk labels. Intellego is Latin for “I understand”, and reflects his quest to grasp the full potential of the Swartland.

Made in the Swartland

Eastern Cape born and bred, Jurgen studied viticulture and oenology at Elsenburg in Stellenbosch. Following graduation, he worked harvests across the world, from Spain and France to New Zealand, and even Russia. “Travelling opened my eyes,” he says. “I tasted wines that changed my perception completely. I wanted to express myself.”

That vision took root in the Swartland. “When I started Intellego, there were a few winemakers who played a big part in helping me find my feet,” he says. “The Swartland teaches you that with the right friends, things are possible, it’s a region built on support and collaboration.”

Expressive energy

When it comes to his winemaking philosophy, energy, says Jurgen emphatically, is what guides the course. “Otherwise it can just become another product. By harvesting organic grapes, we get to make vibrant wines that show life. I remember in the early 2000s South Africa used to make mostly concentrated, low-risk wines that I found difficult to enjoy. Once I discovered higher-risk, more expressive wines, there was no going back. They were alive, and I wanted to make wines like that. Each vintage has its own rhythm, its own pulse.”

Jurgen lives in the Swartland with his wife, Prisca, who runs Kokos Huis in Riebeek Kasteel: a guesthouse he says embodies the same spirit as Intellego. “She’s built something that feels authentic, just like our wines.” Their sunrise vineyard braai, hosted with local winemakers, has become a legendary local experience.

The Pink Moustache 2025

A combination of bunch-pressing, neutral oak/tank ageing allows sappy, shiny red fruit and spiced character to shine. A blend of cinsault, syrah, and 17% mourvèdre; streams of sour cherry, goji and bramble over cranberry-crush acidity, finishing dry and moreish with svelte tannins neatly tucked in. Serve lightly chilled.
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