Wines from the 'Rainbow Nation'

Sounds beguiling, and one immediately gets interested in wines from a place with such an interesting name.

The ‘Rainbow Nation’ is, of course, South Africa, the country at the southern tip of Africa, where wines have been produced for some 360 years, ever since the establishment of Cape Town by the Dutch in 1652. The British colonised the country in 1795, and it got independence as the Republic of South Africa (its official name) only in 1931. Mahatma Gandhi cut his political teeth there (1893-1914); sometimes one forgets that apartheid was in force here till 1990, and it is only thereafter that South African wines have become known internationally.

South Africa produces a lot of wine, despite much of the country being either mountainous or semi-desert. In 2015, it produced 1.12 billion litres, making it the eighth-largest producer worldwide, just behind Australia. Of this, it exported 37.5 per cent or 420 million litres — the equivalent of nearly 50 million cases (in comparison, India’s total wine consumption in 2016 was about 3.5 million cases). The country has nearly 600 wineries and about 100,000 hectares of vineyards, 55 per cent planted to white wine grapes.

 

So much for the statistics. The question is, what are South African wines like, and how do they compare in quality and price against wines from other countries?

It’s no secret that South African producers have taken Chenin Blanc to another level. Called ‘Steen’ locally, Chenin Blanc is the country’s largest-planted varietal with 18.5 per cent of the total area under wine grapes. The wines span the entire gamut of styles, from Fresh & Fruity (MAN Vintners Chenin Blanc) to Oaked to Blended (Sadie Family, de Trafford, Analjit Singh’s Mullineux Vineyards), all the way to late harvest dessert wines (Forrester).

Then there is Pinotage, South Africa’s “signature” red wine grape, created here in 1925 by crossing Pinot Noir and Cinsault. It is said to produce wines with “smoky, bramble and earthy flavours, sometimes with notes of bananas and tropical fruit”, but is not highly rated internationally despite some top-end wines (the Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2014 is rated at 93 points and $275 per bottle by Wine Spectator).

What stands out is the excellent QPR (Quality Price Ratio) of South African wines, which in India typically retail for under  Rs 1,750 per bottle, and are available in a wide spectrum of varietals or as blended wines — witness Kumala (imported by market leader Sula) or the distinctively-labelled The Wolftrap range (imported by Wine Park).

One of the most interesting labels are wines from the Nederburg Winery, whose Cellermaster (Cellermistress?) Andrea Freeborough was in India recently. The company was founded in 1791, and makes wines of consistently good quality at a price few comparitive wines can match.

What’s currently available in India is the basic range: the Nederburg Pinotage 2015 (Rs 1,700 in Bengaluru) is a yummy wine, a bit sharp but typical Pinotage character: lots of good fruit aromas and a medium-bodied character that does well all round.

However, I’d love to see a remarkable label here: Nederburg The Motorcycle Marvel 2014, which honours their legendary winemaker Gunter Brozel (1956-1989) who would zip around the vineyards on his 250cc mobile. The wine is three times more expensive on Wine-Searcher ($22 vs $7 for the regular wine), but vastly better in quality and appeal. This is a “Rhone red” type blend (Carignan/Shiraz/Grenache/Cinsault/Mourvedre) that has 20 months in oak casks and surely lives up to its provenance.

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant