Mid-February and the wine harvest is in full swing, frenetic in some areas, The trucks that growl past our garden carrIed bins loaded with chenin and colombar, on route from the McGregor hills to local cellars, a scene repeated in Robertson, Ashton and Bonnievale. Now there are as many piles of black grapes heading down the road, interspersed with vehicles, loaded with crates of taaipit peaches and field tomatoes .
It’s a glorious time to be living in the winelands, as that special aroma of the crush wafts from open cellar doors, and that tingle of excitement that comes with anticipating what this vintage will yield. Power cuts add to the angst, as generators increase production costs.
Winemakers, viticulturists, producers and marketing teams are optimistic people, who would not want to work anywhere else, no matter what the future holds. In spite of zero financial assistance from government our wine holds its own overseas but the local market needs work as not enough South Africans have discovered the joy of wine as an aperitif and complementary partner for good food.
Let’s also hope that brandy can reverse its downward spiral among spirit-drinking South Africans. We make such good brandy, sell it at a fraction of its Gallic equivalent, and yet still cannot get the market back from the canny Scottish whisky salesmen. Of course with our government officials choosing Scotch over brandy and French champagne over our top bubblies, there’s no help from that quarter.
We need to be practical about pricing as the vast majority of wine drinkers still baulk at paying much more than R40 for whites and R60 for reds: While this can be rightly be regarded as unrealistic pricing for our top wines, there’s a whole middle- of- the- road category that sells at this level and it is possible to hunt down very drinkable products if you persist.
A case in point – let me share the ultimate rosé bargain with you. Recently, I was given a glass of McGregor pinotage rosé 2014 to try at a village lunch party. I tasted it without expecting much,  hoping at least it wouldn’t be sickly sweet. On the contrary, it was dry and its agreeable fruitiness well balanced by discernible structure – I was impressed. Retail price? R20 . And yes, they still have stock – it seems that an overseas buyer ordered a large quantity then reduced it before shipment. A budget-watcher’s bonus for those planning autumn picnics with Mediterranean fare on the menu.