RECM Best Value Pinotages

Big changes at the Good Value Guru HQ. From next month, our weekly tastings are being sponsored by RECM, Regarding Capital Management, an independent asset management company. RECM follows “a disciplined, value-based philosophy that focuses on growing clients’ wealth in real terms above inflation, while protecting their capital against the risk of permanent capital loss” and value is surely the most sensible strategy to employ when purchasing wine.

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Something our blind tastings endeavour to achieve by converting judges’ scores into a bottle price by comparing the retail price with other wines scoring similarly at a blind tasting. Winnie Bowman, a Cape Wine Master and our usual panel chair, is in London judging wine blind at and international competition so I stepped in to chair the Pinotage tasting panel this morning.

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44 wines were put through their paces and a case of the highest scoring wines looks like:

Alvi’s Drift Pinotage 2012 R44.00 R247.84 16.40
Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Pinotage 2009 R190.00 R219.48 15.90
Kaapzicht Steytler Pinotage 2010 R235.00 R235.97 15.90
Mellasat White Pinotage 2012 R125.00 R203.24 15.80
KWV The Mentors Pinotage 2010 R250.00 R191.09 15.80
Riebeek Cellars Collection Pinotage 2012 R39.00 R167.97 15.70

with the final column the average score out of 20 for the wine by three judges, tasting blind. The first price is recommended retail while the second is quality value if we assume the best wine should be the most expensive, in an ideal world. Pleasing to see the Mellasat White Pinotage ranked fourth in absolute quality.

Applying the RECM dictum of searching for value, if we now sort the list on the ratio of quality value to retail price – a Bacchanalian equivalent of the asset manager’s PE ratio – our value six pack looks like

Alvi’s Drift Pinotage 2012 R44.00 R247.84 16.40
Riebeek Cellars Collection Pinotage 2012 R39.00 R167.97 15.70
Du Toitskloof Cellar Pinotage 2012 R38.00 R154.80 15.60
Namaqua Pinotage 2011 R28.75 R108.90 15.20
Darling Cellars Old Blocks Reserver Pinotage 2012 R50.00 R109.83 15.30
Van Loveren Five’s Reserve Pinotage 2013 R56.33 R120.52 15.40

Four Wine Collectives – Riebeek Cellars, Du Toitskloof, Namaqua and Darling now power up the rankings and confirm that when it comes to value, big is very often beautiful. The victor’s laurels however go to Alvi van der Merwe who tops both lists. Interesting to note that Alvi’s wine is made by Aussie Lindley Schultz who used to be chief winemaker at Distell.

The KWV Mentors Pinotage 2010 that features in the best scoring six pack, was made by Aussie Richard Rowe with a lesson for SA consumers. When visiting a Winelands estate, if the winemaker is a little Aussie battler, load up your boot with confidence. A tip RECM chairman Piet Viljoen has obviously followed as RECM has a handy investment in KWV.