Lady May, or may not

May-Eliane de Lencquesaing was not home when I visited her South African estate, Glenelly, in Stellenbosch last week, though her amiable and able winemaker, Luke O’Cuinneagain, gave me an in-depth tour of her vineyards, under-construction winery, the home she has filled with French antiques and South African art, and her current-release wine, the 2004 Glenelly Hill red.

Madame de Lencquesaing purchased the 123ha Glenelly farm on the slopes of Simonsberg in 2003, and in 2006 sold her majority interest in Bordeaux’s Ch Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande to Louis Roederer. Roederer have 15 per cent of Glenelly, yet today Madame...