What defines fine wine in South Africa? Four ultra-premium wineries, known for pioneering Cape Bordeaux Blends, presented their wines to a small group of journalists at London's 67 Pall Mall club. The reason? To delve into the world of fine wines, define what that truly means, to benchmark where South Africa as an industry measures up and thereby help to map out its future. After a discussion led by Areni Global’s Pauline Vicard into the meaning of ‘fine wine’, Meerlust, Vilafonté, Glenelly, and Mvemve Raats (MR) de Compostella showed two wines each – one from the difficult 2011 vintage and one from the near-perfect 2021 vintage, thus providing an enlightening snapshot of fine wine evolution in the Rainbow Nation.
This summer’s elections marked 30 years of democracy for South Africa. It’s fair to say South Africa’s wine industry emerged from Apartheid with a raging case of cellar palate. Today, it’s a very different story; South Africa is increasingly present in the fine wine bracket, thanks in no small part to an exponential evolution in quality. Volume has decreased, but fine wine prices have risen, welcome news in the face of election-induced rand volatility and general governmental chaos.
So how do these improvements manifest in bottle 10 years apart? A whole house of eager trade palates gathered to find out.
Stefan Neumann MS was the magnificently charming and witty compère for this extraordinary comparative tasting titled 'Building the Future. Exploring the Past'. Neumann’s evident popularity with the crowd matched an obvious room-wide appreciation for the wines. Mike Radcliffe and Bruwer Raats were on hand in most eloquent form too. Neuman explained it had been the idea of Mike Radcliffe from Vilafonté to compare the current releases with another, a decade older, and it was thanks to Fells, for whom Neumann acts as a consultant, for this event to happen.
Four different producers united to share the 2011 and the 2021 vintages of Meerlust, Vilafonté, Mvemve Raats (MR) de Compostella and Glenelly Estate. (Kanonkop were set to join but sent their apologies.)
Areni Global’s Pauline Vicard was on hand, too, with her crisp analysis of the fine wine concept. She kicked proceedings off with a cogent definition of fine wine.
Well, explained Vicard, being a ‘human-related’ product, it’s linked to a notion of excellence as defined by both critics and the public. Notions, of course, change as society evolves. So far, Areni Global is on its fourth definition of fine wine, it being updated every two years in a white paper. South Africa is especially relevant to the definition because it ‘often sits near the top of the pyramid’, having entered post-Apartheid, somewhere near the bottom.
The fine wine attributes as defined by Areni are:
Vicard clarified: “Fine wine doesn’t happen by mistake but is related to its maker’s sense of truth.”
She explained that fine wine is complex to define, but its maker is not. Makers are driven to produce the very best that they can.
A recent addendum to the latest white paper is sustainability. A long-term approach signifies longevity and enhances reputation. If a wine is good in twenty years' time, it is perceived as something of long-term value.
Bruwer explained that 10 years ago, very few winemakers in South Africa comprehended the notion of fine wine and certainly did not imagine that they could produce it. Today, there is a growing cohort of winemakers that adheres to the principles of fine wine production. They are confident in their abilities and, for them, site expression is paramount. This manifests in a lighter touch, more restraint, and less new French oak. They have the courage to harvest earlier too.
“Thirty years ago, producers planted what was needed by the market, now people plant to suit the place. Today it costs half a million rand to plant a vineyard, 30 years back it was more like 45k,” Bruwer said.
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