Why? Older consumers might remember the South African wines that arrived after the racist regime fell in 1994 and international trade sanctions were lifted. South African winemakers had been cut off from much of the wine world since the 1980s, a time when the New World wine was revolutionized. (Think of Ontario, New Zealand, and Chile.) When the long-awaited South African wines started to flow into the LCBO in the mid-1990s, they were generally disappointing and out of touch with international expectations. But South Africa’s producers caught up amazingly quickly. They sorted out problems in the vineyards, began to plant a bigger range of varieties, opened up new regions and sites, and improved winemaking practices. It has all paid off, and now South African wines are competitive, in quality terms, at all levels. They are more than competitive in price: they are generally undervalued, and there are many very good-to-excellent values, whether you want to spend $10, $20, $30 or more. Read on...