The world's most expensive South African wines

 South African wines are so often underappreciated. As a country with a wine history dating back to the 1600s and now with thousands of acres of old vines, you'd think that wine from the Rainbow Nation would have a much higher profile. Especially when there is plenty of premium quality for great value.

For many years, the country was challenged with trade sanctions imposed by the apartheid regime. This, coupled with the KWV cooperative's power at the time to set prices and drive quantity over quality shifted South African wines further from global recognition. At the emergence from the regime in the '90s, the country started to make headway toward the international fine-wine podium. 

More recently, however, a sharp increase in input costs since the pandemic for everything from fertilizer to packaging and shipping has hampered reinvestment. According to the 2023 harvest report from the Wines of South Africa (WoSA), the country has had a much smaller harvest in terms of volume – perhaps one of the smallest in more than a decade. "Load shedding" is a household phrase to all saffas and the wine industry is no exception; the national energy provider of South Africa is so often unable to meet electricity demands that power is cut for hours at a time and blackouts have become a norm, making irrigation at crucial points of the season impossible.

Despite electricity issues and pockets of out-of-season rain, the 2023 vintage is reportedly a boon for winemakers and viticulturists across the cape. Although yields may be lower, the quality, particularly for whites, is high. Conjunctively, an in-depth look at the most expensive wines from South Africa proves that there is plenty of monetary value as well as quality.

The world's most expensive South African wines

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