Now that the screaming has subsided and SA’s shocking export figures for the year to end November (December’s numbers are rumoured to be even worse) have sunk in, some fascinating facts emerge: Pinotage and Chardonnay are the big losers while Chenin Blanc is a roll.

Bulk Pinotage shipments slumped by 3.5 million litres while the stuff in bottles was down over a million. The ABC club recruited some new members with bottled Chardonnay down over 2 million litres while bulk was down nearly a bar. Bottled Sauvignon Blanc held steady at 17 million litres while bulk nearly doubled to 4½. But the big surprise was humble Chenin Blanc with bulk exports up 4 million litres to 26½ bar.

Meanwhile the flip side of the strong rand coin is the news that local negoçiants are looking to import Spanish reds at bargain basement prices. Full marks to WOSA (Wines of SA, the exporters’ mouthpiece) for coordinating a January tasting in Luanda, although more work needs to be done on background research as it seems highly unlikely the Angolan wine market was worth only €100 as recently as 2008. That’s either a case price or someone in Stellenbosch has misplaced a million, a bit like SA exports then.

PS. Someone surreptitiously edited the WOSA World Luanda Lift Off posting this morning and changed the text. So much for the claim from the mouthpiece’s mouthpiece André Morgenthal that they do not react to blogs!