I’ve been curious about these circles and have since been invited to sit in as a guest in a few special ones—and no one has had to die.
Chapter one: The Wine Swines
One of the longest running tasting circles; The Wine Swines boasts wall-to-wall heavy weight palates, along the likes of Duimpie Bayly, Dave Hughes, David Biggs, Alan Mullins, Jeremy Walker, Hoffie Hofmeyr, Walter Finlayson, Guy Webber, Etienne Le Riche and Cobus Joubert, among others.
The Swines meet up once a month, always at a different location. Today is at Camberley Wines on the slopes of the Helshoogte in Stellenbosch. The host of the tasting, owner and winemaker of Camberley, John Nel has been called away on business. So Guy Webber (of Hill & Dale) is standing in as proxy. Though he says there’s no chairman, no rulebook, and no constitution. The only rule the Swines have? Filthy jokes. To be accepted into the group as a new member you’ve got to tell the table a ripper.
A long table has been set-up in the courtyard of the winery’s tasting area, and the Swines start rolling in. They’re all pretty surprised, but very welcoming, to see me—a woman—invading their all-male enclave. They argue amongst themselves a bit if they’ve had a woman sit in on a tasting before. They think I might only be the second in its almost 50 year history.
The Wine Swines date back to the early ‘70s. “The fact that this group still gets together underlines the spirit itself, “ says Guy. It’s about taking time out to enjoy the people and fruits of the industry in a relaxed and non-competitive environment. A time when we need not take ourselves, the wines or the others too seriously.”
The circle got its start as a way for the ‘suits’ and the ‘jollers’ of the time to get together and to ‘stop fighting’. Respectively, the more laidback gents from the Stellenbosch Farmers Winery vs. the deployment from the Distillers Corporation.
“I’m not sure when Wine Swines had its first meeting,” says Dave Hughes, who can be credited for getting the ball rolling. “There were no minutes or tasting, it was simply a bunch of people I invited to have lunch together at the Devon Valley Hotel. Just before the vintage started in 1974. My idea was to get a representative from each of the major production companies. I do recall Chris Swanepoel suggesting we meet again. Which we duly did and a couple of folk brought bottles of their produce to drink with lunch.”
Dave says the first official tasting is dated Tuesday, 5 November 1974 and was at the Devon Valley Hotel. Those who attended were: Jimmie Easterbrooke, Tony Mossop, Julius Barratt, Dave Tromp, Trevor Williams, George Duggan, Roy Goslin, Charlie Hoeflich, Dave Hughes and Piet Rossouw.
And the Swines kept growing, soon Dave Hidden, Dave Smedley-Williams, Dave Acker, Julius Barratt, Frank Naughton, Graham Stuart, Mike Lashbrooke and John Carter, Duimpie Bayly, Harvey Illing, Robbie Robertson and Wouter Pienaar joined.
Dave remembers a special tasting in ’75 when Mondavi Wines was presented by Tim Mondavi himself. He says that over the years they’ve had many international guests.
“We had various names at a point too: including Wine Warriors and Bottle Pirates. The first reference I can find to “SWINES” is at a tasting on 23rd April 1976.”
The format is simple: whoever is hosting needs to supply a selection of wines, both local and international, which are then tasted blind and scored on a sheet. Guesswork is also done on the variety, vintage and origin. Against the backdrop the obligatory blush-inducing jokes.
Longtime member David Biggs says: “Groups like the Swines are important because they give people the confidence to make their own decisions. There are far too many self-opinionated people out there who think they have the right to dictate about what is good and bad. With a relaxed group like ours we feel confident to say we dislike a wine, even if a professional winemaker says it's wonderful. It's a humbling experience, because there are often occasions when the big wine gurus get it just as wrong as the amateurs.”
He remembers such an occasion when Dave Hughes had just returned from a Pinot Noir festival in Oregon and gave a tasting of 12 red wines. “Obviously everyone knew they were Pinot Noirs. Some claimed they recognised the country of origin. Others thought the wines were local. When the covers were removed… all of them were Chateau Libertas of various vintages!”
The tasting kicks off with two bubblies. The table decides the first one is local, and they’re right, it’s the Morena Brut Rosé. The next bubbly they deem international, again they’re right: it’s Moët Imperial. But that’s pretty much where all agreement ends. German Riesling is tussled over, no one can agree on an Alvarinho. There’s a spectacular flight of shiraz, both local and from Priorat. The group is split into factions over the next flight of Grenache masquerading as Pinot Noir. The tasting winds up with two stickies, one local and one German. And everybody is smiling.
Lunch is served, more jokes as well as wine is doled out. The Swines are as happy as pigs in… well—you know where I’m going with that.
“The best thing about the Swines is that there is no snobbery,” says David Biggs. “We simply enjoy wine and love exploring its many styles and facets. Wine is - and should be - fun. And if it's not, why drink it?”
Wines tasted
* Bubblies
Morena Brut Rosé: RSA
Moet Imperial: France
* Whites
Alvarinho: Portugal
Riesling: Germany
* Shiraz
Priorat 2013: Spain
Neil Ellis Groenekloof 2013: RSA
Rust & Vrede 2013: RSA
* Grenache/ Grenache blend
Vriesenhof 2014: RSA
Waterford 2015: RSA
Domain Grier Galamus 2009: France
* Late harvest/ sweet
Thelema Semillon 2014: RSA
Kaiserbaum Rieslander: Germany