TERROIR: A word so often used but very often not properly explained to wine consumers. There are four pillars of terroir – soil, climate, location, and tradition/winemaking. All four of these have their own significance on the wine we drink.
We founded our collaboration, Cape Site Specific, and launched at Cape Wine 2018. The goal has always been to follow through and become an active platform, not just meet up for trade shows.
What is Cape Site Specific?
A marketing collaboration of like-minded producers who share a common vision to create wines from specific vineyard sites and properties – some of them up to seventh generational producers. The focus is on crafting wines which reveal the typicity of each site, rather than the manufacturing of commercial or trendy wine styles. We use the Wine of Origin scheme to qualify each producer and their wines and it is divided into three different categories:
Partners
Why was Cape Site Specific established?
Very simple, if we as producers do not care… Why must the consumer or wine trade? There is a big misconception that consumers don’t care, we believe they do! The platform and collaboration has to inform, educate and validate why South African terroir focused wines matter! It is increasingly important to change the perceptual value of our wines and this should also translate and demand higher prices. This supports and increases holistic sustainability. In the export market South African wines are always under pressure at higher prices, we have to break those perceptual barriers for the sake of the whole South African Wine industry.
We cannot keep benchmark tasting our wines against Bordeaux, Burgundy, Marlborough, Napa etc. and not even understand our own appellations.
A very positive shift in the past ten years has been the growth in single vineyard and estate registrations by SAWIS. Figures from 2012 to 2021 prove that winemakers and producers are starting to realise the potential of their vineyards as single entities and not just the brand.
Single Vineyards = 868 to 1745
Wine Estates = 166 to 230
How will we achieve our goals?
Top to Bottom – we have to interact and work with influential partners in the value chain i.e. Key Media, Sommeliers, Buyers/Importers, Specialty Wine Shops, Restaurants. They have a direct impact on their customers/followers and can assist in educating the consumer on what Site Specific Wines are! If we are successful to influence them they can lead the way to influence the general wine public.
From a wine perspective we are focussing on medium to higher priced wines. The volume driven, lifestyle, everyday drinking wines will always be there and have a very important role to play in the wine consumption market. However, to change perceptions we need to work and focus on the top end of the scale.
South Africa will always struggle to compete on the global volume production scale. We are only ninth on the list when it comes to volume, therefore it will be critical to focus on quality rather than quantity. Vineyard size has decreased for a number of years to well under 100 000ha, but this should not mean doom and gloom for our industry. It has become extremely important for growers to diversify their agricultural business and therefore had to pull out vineyards that are not economically viable. Sustainability is not just about nature and people…none of them can be looked after and supported if your wine business is not economically viable and sustainable. The only way to do this is to make sure that wine prices are high enough for reinvestment, expansion and growth of your business.
Our Value-for-Money tag is not a negative position to be in, but it depends what that means to the relevant segments of the wine industry. A $50 Flagship Red Blend might seem expensive, but compared to $100 bottles from Napa, Bordeaux, Italy etc. it will be amazing value for money to some.
The most exciting part of this collaboration since we launched in 2018 has been the camaraderie, support for one another and lack of egos with which our members have embraced this. In the past there has been a lot of ‘classing’ amongst the various wine growing regions. Our members span very close to 80%+ of the Cape Winelands and there are no pretences. It goes way further than that, because the more we taste and meet, the more we also learn from one another.
CapeWine 2022 will be very important for our collaboration and we have been fortunate to secure a group exhibition space. The strength and power of our collective message carries a lot more weight when we also share the same importer and agents around the world. It creates a beautiful storyline and content for them in their markets when they promote South African Wine. All our members will be present at Cape Wine 2022 and we are very excited to make a big impact.
The local market is a big focus and unfortunately Covid-19 stopped us from rolling out our plans, but we launched our online wine shop and consumers can purchase wines from our collaboration to experience the essence of “Wines with a sense of place… and address”. If there are any wine clubs and tasting groups who would like to get in contact, they are welcome to.
Although we are only thirteen members currently, there are many producers who have the same philosophy, vision and passion. It is very exciting to see the focus on more site specific wines from established and new producers. In the global market we are not competition for each other, rather a support base to change the mindset and perception of South African Wine. When we can achieve that everyone in this industry benefits and the sustainability of our industry get stronger and stronger!
For further information and to follow our collaboration you can do so on:
Email: info@capesitespecific.co.za
Website: www.capesitespecific.co.za
Twitter: capesitespecifi
Instagram: capesitespecific
Facebook: csswines