Michael Fridjhon: SA fine wines are a global steal (but not forever)

It’s been thirty years since South Africa’s first democratic election, and in that time the wine industry has gone from being the pariah to the darling of the wine world. Our exports may be down from their peak of ten years ago, but our profile has never been higher. Until a few years ago comments about Cape wine usually came with a reservation like “great value” or “exceptional at the price point” – reflecting as much Rand weakness as an inclination to damn with faint praise.

In the last year or two this has changed dramatically. The message – especially from the UK – has been unequivocal. This is perhaps most evident in the latest series of articles on Jancis Robinson.com – comfortably the most authoritative and most impartial source of wine information for Britain and the Commonwealth (and increasingly important in the US following its acquisition by an American company).

Here are some examples:

“I’ve tasted nearly 200 South African wines in the last three months. And within the context of the 3,000-plus wines I’ve encountered this year, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that South Africa is making such good – scratch that – stunning wines right now, that the rest of the wine world should be circling in awe.

“…For a number of years now, we’ve written about ‘the revolution’ in South African wine, but that is now an old story. South Africa has a well-earned, well-established position as a producer of some of the best wines in the world – they are certainly, on the whole, some of the most elegant, as the tasting notes below and the red wine tasting notes tomorrow show. South Africans seem to have found the secret to making moderate-alcohol, pure-fruited, layered wines from some of the hottest, driest vineyards in the world. I wish some European producers would go visit them to learn how. Regions that are seeing climate-induced challenges of low rainfall and heat spikes should be beating a path to South Africa, notebooks in hand.”

Subscribers to Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages then get to see the 228 Cape wines reviewed over the two articles which appeared recently on consecutive days on the site. The ratings follow the somewhat old-fashioned 20-point system, which may confuse those chasing wines within two points of the magical 100, but it is easy to see how the calibration works. It’s also very clear – at least to regular visitors to the site – that there have been no concessions to score inflation. By way of some examples: Cullen’s top wine – the Diana Madeline 2012 – managed 17.5; Penfolds Bin 169 2010 16.5; Vidal-Fleury’s Côte Rôtie 2023 15; Chateau Pichon Lalande 2019 16.5. Yet the average score for the South African wines recently reviewed on the site was pretty close to 17. Several were at 17.5 and quite a few were on 18. To give this some context: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s Richebourg 2021 scores 18 and Chateau Latour 2003 16.5

Many, but not all, are familiar brands – but they are mainly names we connect with small volume production. Except for a few cellars like Kleine Zalze, Meerlust and Spier, they are producers associated with craft volumes. I’m talking about Alheit, Botanica, David & Nadia, The Foundry, Lismore, Miles Mossop, Newton Johnson. Not boutique, not garagiste, but not vast. At a guess I would say that annual production is between 8,000 and 15,000 rather than 20,000 – 4,0000 dozen – so not small, but not industrial: a set-up where the winemaker can still pick and choose her/his fruit most of the time. And where the range doesn’t have anywhere to bury mistakes.

Once again, this requires context: 5,000 – 10,000 dozen would be a respectable size for a well-established grower in Burgundy; 100,00 – 200,00 the size of Chateau Palmer (first and second label). So this is a significant improvement on a few years ago, where most of the names garnering decent scores on the site were far closer to the garagiste side of the spectrum, making comparison with real wine enterprises problematic.

This is a big deal. It’s fair to assume that Jancis and her team have a better grasp than most of what is on offer in the world of wine, and that their judgements are framed on the absolute quality, unmediated by price, of what they sample. When Cape wines are scoring alongside Old-World classics and selling for a fraction of the price it doesn’t take adventurous consumers very long to shift their allegiance. Not all of them of course: for many the big names and famous appellations are part of the motivation for drinking fine wine. But others – especially younger, less hide-bound wine drinkers – will seek out these high-scoring Cape exotics. They won’t approach their purchasing with the baggage of a previous generation. They will discover that Van Loggerenberg’s Kameraderie Chenin Blanc 2023 scores 17.5++ and “smells like apple mint and lemon verbena…and tastes like pineapple pressed into sea glass into white wax, (that it is) stunningly complex and thrilling” and that it costs a mere £40. This is about a quarter the price of the Carruades of Chateau Lafite which typically garners a lower score.

When that happens (and this is a “when” not an “if”) the price we pay for these wines today – however high they seem to us who have become accustomed to shopping in a market where surplus determines that there is an abundance of vinous bargains – will seem derisory; just like the R18.50 per bottle which was what Romanée-Conti cost at Civil Service in Johannesburg exactly 50 years ago. So enjoy now, while you can. And don’t say you weren’t warned.

• Michael Fridjhon has over thirty-five years’ experience in the liquor industry. He is the founder of Winewizard.co.za and holds various positions including Visiting Professor of Wine Business at the University of Cape Town; founder and director of WineX – the largest consumer wine show in the Southern Hemisphere and chairman of The Trophy Wine Show.