Hats off to WOSA, the SA wine exporters’ mouthpiece, for what sounds, by all accounts, like a well organized tasting in Hong Kong. HK wine identity Tersina Shieh, a “marketer turned winemaker” blogs that “Cap Classique, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay (nine wines altogether) [were paired] with some Cantonese classic dishes: siu mai (pork dumpling), steamed chicken and abalone. All these dishes and wines are in the Ivory Flavour Colours zone so they all matched well.” I wrote about this colourful approach to wine appreciation in WINE magazine last month:

Synesthesia, confusion of the senses, is a rich well for drinkspeak. The tasting notes for Johnnie Walker Blue Label 1805: “whispers of long forgotten autumns with opulent fruits and creamy vanilla laced with hints of moss and fallen leaves” confuses sound and taste while the very brand name “Blue Label” is a visual confusion of colour and flavour.

Visual synesthesia is brilliantly deployed to match wine with Chinese food by Simon Tam, auctioneer Christie’s man in Hong Kong, through a new iPad/iPhone application called Four Colours.

The sales bumpf highlights important social issues: “you’re in a Chinese restaurant and you’re thinking of ordering chicken in clay pot. But what wine will go with it? In a few seconds you can select chicken in clay pot in Flavour Colours and it will give you a list of 5 suggested matching wines. If the restaurant doesn’t have those wines, tap a button and another 5 will be listed.”

Adapted for the SA scene: “you’re in a supermarket and you want to buy a young Pinotage. But what dishes might you prepare that would match it? Again, you can rapidly look up the wine in Flavour Colours and it will give you 5 suggested matching dishes.” So far, so techie trendy.

But the breakthrough comes in the way Simon associates food and wine – through colour. The rich patrimony of the Chinese kitchen is divided into four subtle colour schemes – no primary gauche Andy Warhol treatment here but rather a muted, Zen palate.

As Si explains: “the principles of Flavour Colours consider taste holistically: not just the science of four basic flavours but also seasonality, our mood and our individual expectations of what will make a good match. Flavour Colours divides wine and food flavours into just four categories: Blond, Ivory, Tan and Brown.”

SA is a fully-fledged (if not yet fully paid up) member of BRICS (the emerging economic grouping Brazil, China, India, Russia and SA) and when it comes to marketing wine in Asia, colour matters.

How ironic, for SA has an infamous history of classification on the basis of colour, so dividing wines into four group areas, should be a doddle.

First up is Blond which “brings to mind the zestiness of fresh lemon, delicate white flower blossoms, an invigorating sunny day with gentle sea breezes.” Blond foods include “steamed fish with heady ginger or the penetrating freshness of green peppercorn” and Blond wines are clearly Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, Riesling, exotic cultivars like Viognier and Verdelho and unwooded white blends.

Ivory “brings fresh core flavours that are extended and layered with other flavours’ freshness. Shredded ginger with steamed pork dumplings and garoupa fillets with sweet corn are perfect examples. The Ivory Flavour Colour is seamless and easy to love” and wooded whites such as Chardonnay, barrel fermented Chenin and white blends as well as fresh and youthful Méthode Cap Classique are appropriate matches.

“Tan is sensual and real. The flavours are as deep as they are wide, but never intense. Tan Flavour Colours are also very textural” hence Pinot Noir and vintage MCC are indicated.

“The Brown Flavour Colour offers warmth, a sense of safety and comfort. It is fulfilling and satisfying. It is a heartiness that feeds the soul. A matured old red, dark chocolate truffles, braised ox tail, the scent of an old leather Chesterfield and exotic spices of cigars are all Brown Flavour Colour.” A category which speaks to rich Shiraz, Bordeaux blends and fortified wines.

Desmond Tutu memorably dubbed the New SA, “the Rainbow Nation.” A new WOSA slogan for the East, perhaps?