South African wines can be harder to find than a white rhino — at least that’s what it seems like when you look at the local wine scene.

There is a reason for that. South African wines currently account for less than two percent of American wine imports. That is a puny number for a country ranking eighth in global wine production, just behind Australia.

So who is drinking South African wine? The Brits, the Europeans and, increasingly, wine drinkers in Asia. Fortunately, some excellent labels still make their way to our shores and more arrive every year.

Let’s take a little wine safari to some vineyards within South Africa’s vast landscape and sample a few drops along the way. While vineyards range across hundreds of miles from east to west, most of them are in the southern tier of the country — putting many of them under the cooling maritime influence of the Atlantic or Indian oceans.

Paarl is home to Glen Carlou vineyards. My wife is a big fan of Glen Carlou’s creamy, lemon-drop-rich chardonnay, while their Grand Classique was what caught my attention. A hearty Bordeaux blend, Classique is an exotic marriage of Old World and New World styles.

You’d expect something exotic to come out of Africa, but Cederberg’s Bukettraube is still a surprise. Bukettraube is a little-known white grape that originated in Europe but flourishes in the cool, high-altitude vineyards of the Western Cape. Bukettraube is rich, aromatic, floral and yet mouthwateringly tangy. It reminds me of a first-class gewurztraminer. Delicious.