South Africa Wines

About South Africa Wines

South Africa Wines specialise in selling cases of fine South African wine. These include quality wines from Meerlust, Rustenberg, Haute Cabriere, Vergelegen, Steenberg, Paul Cluver, Bouchard Finlayson and Mulderbosch. Plus our great new estates Constantia Uitsig and Uva Mira.

We have used our vast knowledge of Cape wine to bring to the UK all the best South Africa can offer when it comes to award-winning wine. These include Sauvignon Blanc, Pinotage, Chenin Blanc, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sparkling Wines and great Cape Blends. We have one of the largest online selections of Cape wine from all the finest wine-growing regions. These include wines from Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek, Constantia, and Durbanville.

South African Wine History

Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson in 'The World Atlas of Wine' wrote "The most dramatically beautiful wine country in the world is surely South Africa" With its almost perfect Mediterranean climate, cooling winds and rain usually concentrated in winter, the Cape has perfect conditions for producing great wines. However, it has been hampered by many problems, past and present.

The Cape wine industry flourished for most of the 19th century, but the arrival of phylloxera (a vine virus), the Anglo-Boer War and the collapse of the British wine market for Cape wines hit the Cape wine industry hard. This lead to the establishment of the KWV in 1918. The KWV (a huge co-operative) was designed to create a market for everything produced in Cape vineyards and regulate these prices. Quality was not the issue - saving the Cape producer was. The result being that the Cape producers are largely co-operative based: of about 4,500 grape-farmers, most take their fruit to one of the 70 co-op's. There are about 90 wine estates (producers growing their own fruit); and about 180 producers buying in fruit, and, therefore, not qualifying for estate status.

The KWV also operated a quota system which restricted new plantings of different grape varieties and made it almost impossible to explore new planting sites with perfect growing conditions. The result was a desperate lack of good wine, as most plantings were focused on supplying wine for distillation purposes (quantity, not quality was the priority); and a lack of old vines for making wines such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.

Because of South Africa's general isolation, vineyard practices and winemaking techniques are only now being brought up to date. In 1992 the KWV was stripped of its governing powers, and could no longer dictate to the Cape wine industry. Entirely new wine producing areas are being established, vineyard practices and winemaking techniques are improving massively (yet a lot of work still has to be done).

The focus is shifting from mass produced wine to more fashionable red wine varieties. South Africa's Pinotage is finally being valued as a "local treasure". Areas outside the traditional wine making regions of Constantia (Klein Constantia), Stellenbosch (Warwick, Meerlust, Mulderbosch, Vergelegen) and Paarl (Veenwouden, Glen Carlou) are gaining in status, such as the Overberg (Bouchard Finlaysin), Darling, Elgin and Cape Agulhas.

Vines are being planted in areas best suited to them or vice versa, sites are being planted with the variety best suited to their conditions. This all points to a shift in attitude - quality has become an important issue. In general, the warmer micro-climates are better suited to reds and the cooler micro-climates to white. This attention to detail has already helped establish some South Africa wines as of high quality and are widely sought after.

This "dramatically beautiful wine country" is definitely set on its way to being one of the major wine producing and exporting countries in the world. Just a little time and patience are needed.

Wine Storage

Wine needs to be kept lying in a cool, dark and quiet place, which is slightly damp. Why? Laying it down keeps the cork wet and expanded, which improves the seal, keeps oxygen out of the wine and keeps the wine in the bottle. If the wine is stored in a cool place (5-18 degrees Celsius), it ensures that the wine's maturing process is subtle, reaching its maturity gracefully. If the cellar is too warm, the wine will mature too rapidly, become tired and ultimately mature poorly. Temperature fluctuations should be kept to a minimum, as this, too, affects the optimum maturing of wine, and the corks could weaken, which could cause leakage and evaporation of the precious liquid.

Wine loves the dark. The bottle does afford the wine some protection, but light, direct or indirect, could over-expose the cork and lead to a 'tired' wine. Wine does not like to be moved too much during storage (unless it is in a glass!), as this disrupts the maturing process.

Why slightly damp? To keep the cork wet, which ensures a good seal on the bottle and minimal leakage. Please do not keep your wine, even every-day drinking wine, in the airing cupboard, near radiators and boilers, or in your greenhouse or pre-fabricated structures. The temperature fluctuations are too great, and this will ruin the wine over a period of time.

Serving and Drinking Wine

How many ways are there to skin a cat (no offence to cat-lovers!)? Here are a few hints for serving wine. Chilled white wine is delicious, and red wine at 'room' temperature, not at a hot kitchen temperature. The chill on a wine, when it is being served, closes down some of the flavours of the wine. This is particularly true for reds, and is why most reds are drunk at 'room' temperature, so as to get the most benefit from the wonderful flavours in the wine. Some white wines are better served well chilled, as this closes the 'sharp' taste down, as present in Sauvignon, for example.

For the best temperature guide, see 'The World Atlas of Wine' by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson.

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