Monday, 17 September, 2018
Wines of South Africa, Fiona McDonald
It’s September. The rains have been better than they been for years and dams are beginning to fill up, the vines have been pruned and started to show the first little green flags of verdant growth. Everything seems poised and full of promise of good things to come.
Nowhere was this more obvious than the genuinely eager anticipation of Cape Wine 2018.
In April this year while attending the Decanter World Wine Awards in London the topic came up in virtually every conversation with the local wine trade folks when they heard my South African accent.
“Ooh! Can’t wait. It’s going to be great!” they said – or those not so lucky to have already cracked the nod were ever optimistic: “Well... if I play my cards right, I might get to attend. I’m desperate to visit the Cape.”
I kid you not! That was the word used: “desperate”. My impression then was that South Africa is undoubtedly the hottest ticket or best destination in the wine world at present – and all the anticipation about it on social media has borne that out.
The first few pre-Cape Wine events have been held and the feedback has already been positive. The Old Vine Project treated some of the first guests to a tasting with a few of the Cape’s charismatic producers – and the pictures on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook reflected the good reception. Similarly, Bruce Jack hosted a group at The Drift farm and, in typical inimical fashion, provided an impromptu history lesson against the backdrop of a tumbledown shepherd’s cottage on the farm. The same evening De Warenmarkt in Stellenbosch thronged with winemakers and Cape Wine delegates getting a preview of the wines while simultaneously being entertained by African rhythms.
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