Fantastic timing for my Bottle of the Week in The Times this morning. Just as Bernie Sanders wins big in West Virginia and I’m punting Bernie Podlashuk of Bellingham fame.

Bottle of the Week: Bellingham Shiraz 2014

How much and where? R75; Tops at Spar

Why? Taste the Bern. And we’re not talking Bernie Sanders here but rather Bernard Podlashuk, the father of Shiraz in SA. Bernie bottled the first single cultivar Shiraz on his Bellingham farm back in 1957 and the brand has now been pimped up by his successor, gentle giant Niel Groenewald.

There are three whites in the range and two reds not counting Bernie Sanders. The Sauvignon Blanc comes from Durbanville. The Chardonnay from higher elevations on the Simonsberg and Helderberg of Stellenbosch while the Chenin comes from Agter Paarl as the best do.

The Pinotage hails from the Botellary Hills while my favourite, the Shiraz, comes from that part of the Simonsberg pointed like a loaded cannon at the taalpaal in Paarl. No wonder the financial press reports that the three towns in SA with the fastest growing population of US$ millionaires are Franschhoek, Paarl and Stellenbosch.

This Bellingham Shiraz is the billionaires bibulation. Bellingham is next to Antonij Rupert in Franschhoek, the grapes are grown in Paarl but on the Simonsberg which was named after Simon van der Stel who founded Stellenbosch. It ticks all the billionaire boxes and is smooth as cashmere in the mouth but nowhere near as pricey. Try with roast duck breast with Ficksburg cherry sauce.

The distinctive triangular bottle of Bellingham Johannisberger has been abandoned for a tall elegant Bordeaux number but the corks are still branded Bellingham as back in the days when Bernie Pod would incentivise waitrons at the Metropole Hotel in Long Street to sell his wines, he realized collecting corks from waiters would not work the day he was presented with more corks than bottles sold.

The Metropole is now the Grand Daddy with an airstream trailer park on the roof. A most fitting venue to drink a bottle of Bellingham Shiraz from the grand daddy of SA Shiraz.

Rating: ***

*****: Nicky Opperheimer

****: Natie Kirsch

***: Donny Gordon

**: Christo Wiese

*: Donald Trump