South African Wines deliver serious value for the money

Original Story Published by: Kurtis Kolt, www.straight.com
Photo Source: straight.com

(Above) South African wines – including Hamilton Russell Vineyards’ Pinot Noir (left) and Chardonnay (right) and DeMorgenzon DMZ Chardonnay – punch above their weight.

This week’s column is being filed from the Western Cape wine region in South Africa, about five days into my current trip, which marks my first time setting foot on the continent.

Along with a small handful of wine writers from Quebec and Ontario, I’ve been brought here by the Wines of South Africa promotional organization to get a close look at what’s happening here.

So. Let’s set the scene. The landscape is lush, with rolling hills covered in vineyards and multicolored flowers and foliage that are mostly alien to me. Each region I’ve visited is noisy with the whistles, warbles, and calls of various birds, and the skittering of insects, all of them unrecognizable as well. There has been drought for years, straining vineyards and all aspects of life, and the sociopolitical climate I’ve witnessed seems far removed from apartheid-era grief, with many cultures intertwining merrily in business and pleasure. The Dutch and British colonial influences are still strong, in architecture and language (the Afrikaans language borrows heavily from Dutch), and also in the cuisine, where hearty meats and stews are often accompanied by strong cheeses and
rich sauces.

With this kind of food being common, wines with heft are often expected, and there are certainly plenty of them to be had here. That said, what I’ve encountered during the past few days is an energy among winery proprietors and winemakers to make pristine wines with freshness and elegance and to distance themselves from the rich and gloopy cheap wines that made waves around the globe a couple decades back.