Embark on a journey to explore the unique flavors and rich heritage of South African wines, a hidden treasure that emerged on the global stage during the transformative era of the 1900s. This period, marked by the influential leadership of Nelson Mandela, unveiled the allure of South African wines to the world.
What is your favourite South African wine?
Shoutout to the Cape Winelands because that industry is genuinely impressive when you think about how far it’s come. I’m not a big wine guy myself, grew up more on a cold Black Label at a braai, but I took a trip to Stellenbosch a couple years back and bra, it changed my perspective completely.
What hit me was the number of Black-owned wineries starting to come through now. Guys like the Thokozani and Ses’fikile labels are doing it properly and keeping the economic value in communities that were locked out for decades. That’s the real story nobody talks about enough.
My question is though, why is it still so expensive to enjoy local wine locally? Feels like we export the best stuff and the average South African can’t even afford to celebrate our own heritage at a decent price.
Living in the Western Cape means I’ve got no excuse not to know my wines, I’ve been surrounded by the stuff my whole life. Sipho, glad Stellenbosch converted you, that’s exactly what happens when people actually go there instead of just buying the cheap stuff at Checkers.
My personal favourite for years has been a good Pinotage, it’s ours, nobody else in the world grows it the way we do. Kanonkop does a brilliant one if you want something worth sitting down with properly. But on a Friday braai I’ll crack open a Robertson Cabernet and not feel any shame about it whatsoever.
The Black-owned wineries coming through now are genuinely exciting, Thokozani makes decent stuff and Ubuntu Wine is worth tracking down if you can find it. What I find darkly funny is I spent 35 years wiring up buildings all over the Winelands, farms, cellars, the lot, and half the time didn’t stop to appreciate what was literally growing outside. Retirement sorted that out quickly.
Ja, Pinotage is lekker, I’ll give it that. Not much of wine drinker myself, give me cold one at the braai any day, but I respect what those Western Cape farmers do. Different kind of farming to what we do here in Free State but farming is farming, its hard work and you carry the risk yourself. Those Black-owned wineries coming through, good thing. More competition is better for the industry. Government must just not go and mess it up with too much regulation and red tape, let the farmers do what they do.