With Chenin Blanc as its calling card, South African wine has long helped to fill the aisles and coffers of UK supermarkets with affordable wines, with a sprinkling of top estates helping to feather the nest of a category that is still largely shaped by price sensitivity and mass-market behaviour.
An immersive trip to Cape Wine 2025 and the country’s winelands, however, highlighted how South Africa’s ambitions to push further into the middle and premium tiers on UK shelves is gaining ground.
“Six or seven years ago, 25% of our exports went to the UK in volume but only equated to 18% of the value,” show boss and CEO of Wines of South Africa (WoSA) Siobhan Thompson told Drinks Retailing. “Now that value share has caught up. It means our mix has changed and we’re selling better-quality wine at a better price.”
For South Africa, maybe more than any other country at the moment, survival and premiumisation go hand in hand. Strides have been made in the form of industry-wide initiatives such as the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association, Integrated Production of Wine and the Old Vine Project, which are setting global benchmarks for responsible production. Meanwhile, WoSA has just unveiled a campaign based around the country’s 300 days of annual sunshine in a gambit to elevate the category through price and perceptions.
At the same time, the industry is still recovering following a decade of hard-hitting challenges. A three-year drought from 2015-2018, pandemic disruptions and successive small harvests have put pressure on supply. Load shedding has also complicated matters, leading to an intermittent electricity flow which continues to impact everything from irrigation and cellar management to cold chains and hospitality.
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