While the Sauvignon Blanc served at Rupert & Rothschild last night came from New Zealand (Johann Rupert famously rates SA Sauvignon on a Rennie’s antacid scale) and last year’s First National Blanc Top Ten included one from Chile (it didn’t sell either) the three dozen available for tasting this afternoon at the Pendock Wine Gallery @ Taj from 5-7pm are all proudly South African.

The wines are being tasted blind this morning (above) as part of the RECM Best Value initiative which seeks to present the great SA wine drinking public with wines that are worth their selling price. As Fair Trade sales slump in the UK for the first time in 20 years, SA producers are going to have to concentrate on value to shift stock. Our weekly RECM Best Value tastings are a good place to start.