There is a lot going on in South Africa on the wine scene. Although they have been making wine for more than 350 years here the wine industry was under-developed during the apartheid era. A new chapter began in the 1990s that took South Africa on to the international market, but to a large extent with the profile of supplying large quantities of reliable and modestly priced wines.
In recent years this has changed rapidly and dramatically. Some talk about a “wine revolution”. The revolution is not so much a violent one as a quality one. There is an army of talented winemakers that have started to make good use, excellent use, of, for example, South Africa’s stock of old vines.
Some of this new generation of winemakers believe in the “natural wine” credo, but many are more classic. Both types of wines can be outstandingly good. What is even better, especially for us consumers, is that these excellent wines are often still modestly priced.
Read more on this in Per’s article on Forbes: A New Generation Of “Rebel” Wines From South Africa.
Here’s the introduction:
Do you think South Africa is a country that is good at making bulk wines, but that when it comes to quality and personality falls short? Then it’s time to wake up. Now! You are missing a lot of exciting and very original wines.
Today there are plenty of exciting wines of very good quality from South Africa. If you know where to look! Often it is from small producers outside the most famous wine regions, ie usually not from Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Of course they make excellent wines even in those districts today, but if you are newcomer and do not have a lot of money, it’s cheaper to settle in lesser-known areas, Swartland, Elgin, Walker Bay, and others.
We recently discovered a new Swedish wine importer focusing on that type of wine and their name is, appropriately, Wine Rebels, run by Hanna Dahlenborg and Ludvig Blomberg. Yes, Swedish, but bear with me!
Even though it is a Swedish importer, the conversation we had with them casts a very illuminating light on what is happening on the wine scene in South Africa today, so it is worth your while to listen to what they have to say even if you are not in Sweden! It might lead you to some new and great wine discoveries. We also had the opportunity to try a selection of their wines and in most cases we were very impressed with the quality and the personal style of the wines.
Read all of Per’s article on BKWine on Forbes.
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One more way to discover these fantastic South African “revolutionary” wines is to come on a wine tour to South Africa with BKWine. There you will get the chance to discover both the new revolutionaries and the more established top quality producers. Some of the most original wines can only be found on site.
Travel to the world’s wine regions with the wine experts and the wine tour specialist.
Wine tours that shows you the best. BKWine wine tours.
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