Melvyn Minnaar: Those quirky international wine days

A few weeks or days ago it was International Potato Day. I didn’t know about it. Perhaps you did – I mean we are all fans of the mashed, the roasted or deep-fried, the Dauphinoised. (Did the Peruvians know their home-grown spud would be so acclaimed? Apparently, the UN was involved in this proclamation.)  

At some stage I also missed International Chenin Blanc, or was it Chardonnay Day? And, for all I know, there’s a International Jersey Day coming up – the Western Cape weather is pointing to that. (Muskadel Day wouldn’t be a bad idea either, given the upcoming mountain snows.)

In the great scheme of memorable dates, this new-fangled “International Day” thing caught me off guard. Maybe my eye on history and diplomacy slipped. Who, pray, sanctioned these days of holiness and/or celebration? I’m not necessarily complaining, just curious. (In our household the entire month, if not year, is filled with Chenin Days. Thanks be to Stellenrust, Marras, Kleine Zalze and all those great Cape Sorcerers of Steen.)

Maybe there is a secret brotherhood who decide on these calendar days. Who knows, but it surely is a nifty PR trick. And you have to admit, wine days so proclaimed, make Bacchus believable again.

(There is, in fact, a website hosting these “international days”. Not sure under whose authority it operates, but it lists celebration days for the strangest, funniest and curious – how about special days for ‘Caps Lock’ and ‘Cassava’? According to the site, with International Chenin Blanc Day just past (Ken Forrester take a bow), we look forward to International Shiraz Day 22 July. (The website doesn’t explain why that date, but gives James Busby, the guy who took the vines to Australia way back the kudos.)

When debates and controversies rage about “purple prose” in wine reporting and argument flares over scores between 89 and 95, the silliness of the “International Wine Days” is the comic relief we need in the culture and enjoyment of wine. May we look at it as a gift from the gods, not subject to the idiosyncrasies of grand masters – those, all knowing of wine, and their blessed pronouncements, and, heaven forbid, the pricing by capitalists who only notice glory in big bucks.

However contrived the idea of the “International Day” in marketing terms, the message does suggest something of a celebration and a focus. And to be honest, it seems to me that the pleasure and joys of wine are often overshadowed by the hoopla of overwrought writing and the hubris of judgement of something which cannot in real terms be measured scientifically.

So let’s drink up and enjoy. When humour-impaired individuals complain about our Heritage Day (24 September) being hijacked as Braai Day (celebrating two decades this year), at our home, we cheerfully light the fire for the wors and tjops (and open highest-scoring, lowest-priced red as identified by Winemag…).

Speaking of heritage, our very own Pinotage naturally plays well with the braai – but its moment in the international spotlight only comes on 11 October. Still, take note: this year’s celebration will be extra special, marking a full century of our bolshy red. I’m already dusting off my smiley face flag in anticipation. International Pinotage Day, here we come. Viva!

• Melvyn Minnaar has written about art and wine for various local and international publications over the years. The creativity that underpins these subjects is an enduring personal passion. He has served on a few “cultural committees”.