South Africa is not just a cricketing team that has us on the edges of our seats from time to time. They are an entire nation of some very formidable people, cultures and gastronomy. Considered the first New World country to adopt wine, they have drunk Jesus juice for centuries. Here are five reasons why you must follow suit.
Price: They are cheap. If you and I lived in South Africa we?d drink every day. An average spend on a bottle rarely exceeds 200 Indian rupees, yes you read that right and for that price you get something that won?t make you pull faces as our local plonks do.
Quality: Not only would we drink every day, we would also drink far better wines. The advantage of this is manifold. If quality is assured and consistent we are truly benefitting from drinking wine. Secondly, wines which are made naturally, with little or no human intervention, are pure in character and taste and that is something that has to be tasted to be relished. Quality doesn?t always mean a corpulent wine that knocks you over like a blue-line bus, sometimes it can mean a light breeze that wafts in and carries you away on a mellow dream.
Variety: Tired of the usual run of wines. Same grapes, same styles. Well, South Africa could offer some respite. Sure they do a whole range of international grapes but they have some special cultivars that they do exceptionally well. Chenin Blanc is their white badge of pride. India wears it too but more like an albatross of shame. While ours are flabby and over-sugared, theirs are flabby yet crisp with lovely texture and mouth-feel and all aromas ranging from citrus to white fruits and flowers. In reds, they have Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir which is a soft grape and Cinsault. The best wines are rare but try a Cape Blend which is like a Bordeaux blend with some Pinotage in decent measure for a good round up.
Value: High quality wines at prices that don?t leave you bruised ? that is true value. Although winemaking as an activity dates back centuries here in South Africa, true maturity and understanding of an industrial level has only come in the last few decades and in such a short span they have managed to turn things around completely. The wines show confidence, a definite clarity of style and a coherent understanding of their local terroir. Yet, the wines aren?t a clinical produce with sterile sensibilities; they manage to be works of art drawn on the lovely canvass with the heart-calming natural beauty of their countryside as the serene background. last reason: Try out South African wines simply because they are good, you will like them and will thank me and that makes me happy. So, try South African wines, if only to make me happy. Else, I will go back and happily feed myself to the lions.