South Africa’s New Wave: 10 years on
My first wine trip was to South Africa. It was intoxicating – in every way. I fell for the wines of the Western Cape, its big skies, mountains and endless horizons, as well as a troupe of winemakers unlike any I’d previously encountered.
They were down-to-earth, straight-talking, talented and – most importantly – fun. They all knew each other, surfed together and drank together. Each of them shouted about their friends’ wines. It was this incredible collective – but it wouldn’t have been so exciting if they hadn’t been making such beautiful wines.
Each producer was so ridiculously welcoming. From Eben Sadie (you can read my write-up of the visit with the icon here), Adi Badenhorst and Mullineux, via Fable Mountain, Meerlust, Reyneke, Keermont and Oldenburg, to Newton Johnson, Richard Kershaw, Ataraxia, Cape Point, Constantia Glen and Klein Constantia, it was unforgettable. Looking back, it was perhaps the moment I realised that I wanted to share that sense of excitement with others – to try and capture it on the (often digital) page.
That was 2015, the same year that the first New Wave tasting was held in London – bringing together many of the Cape’s most exciting producers, and the same year that the last of the original Swartland Revolution weekends took place. A movement was building.
Coverage of South Africa’s wine scene has only grown since then, and the wines have secured their place on the international stage. The Cape is a darling of the wine trade and any wine nerd worth their salt knows the value to be found. It’s frustrating that the message reputation hasn’t necessarily filtered through to consumers, and there’s still work to be done. My enthusiasm for the region hasn’t faded, and you’ll find a healthy portion of South African wine in my cellar, although I haven’t tasted or talked about the wines as much as I’d have liked in recent years. That’s something I’m trying to rectify, and hope to make it back out next year.
So, when an invitation landed in my inbox to a 10-year-on tasting of many of South Africa’s best names, there was little doubt as to whether I’d be going. There was a formal tasting that I didn’t attend, and a less formal walkaround before a celebratory dinner with a handful of the winemakers – both of which I did go to. I’m not going to write extensively about the wines on show, as I don’t feel that they were all showing their best. The walkaround took place in a hot, crowded room, samples seemed mixed and talking with people who had tasted during the day, wines seemed to be showing not quite as expected in the evening.
That said, it was a fascinating opportunity to taste through around 40 wines from the 2015 vintage. There were some beautiful bottles – confirming the ability of these wines to age, something I think many in the room both expected and hoped. There were surprises for me in the tasting: there were styles I had liked less in their youth which seemed to have come into their own, and broadly speaking the Chardonnay and Cabernet wines impressed me most, rather than the Chenin and Syrah. There’s a hope this Southwold-inspired tasting will take place every year – in which case crossed fingers I’ll be talking about it more next year.
A massive thank you to Mark Dearing and Victoria Mason MW for organising the event, and including me in it: looking forward to the next one already.
