This weekend past saw so-called non-Bordeaux red blends placed under the spotlight wielded by the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year competition. How unfortunate for a style to be defined as not being something else. Imagine calling gays, non-straights; men, non-women or bloggers non-whales. Totally ridiculous. So what is my own personal non-Bordeaux favourite? A feast of T’s from the Klein Karoo: Tritonia made by Boets (a non-Carel) Nel made from Touriga Naçional, Tinta Barocca and Tinta Roriz. Here are a couple of non-William Kentridge artists, Jan du Toit and Luan Nel enjoying a bottle at that non-Test Kitchen called Societi Bistro on Orange Street in Cape Town.

While you would perhaps expect baked flavours aplenty in a wine made from grapes grown in a non-maritime, non-temperate appellation, this wine is unexpectedly elegant with fine and delicate flavours. The opposite of Christiaan Groenewald’s Diners Club triumph of Tannat (another T) and Syrah from Eagle’s Cliff in Worcester which has tannins (yet another T) to tame a tiger. Is this enough to make Tritonia a non-Diners Club wine?