Here’s to wine South Africa is only just discovering!

Watching South Africa playing the World Cup, naturally we wanted them to win their games, and this wasn’t just due to the fact that we’re in South Africa, but more due to our history. Having grown through adulthood in the apartheid era, and the subsequent re-unification of Africa’s largest wine nation, they just needed to win. But although we didn’t get past the first round, here’s a look at how we are doing in terms of wine, worldwide.

South Africa is the world’s seventh largest wine producer, with its 350 year history of European inspired viticulture, on one of the globes oldest continents, to blossom in its 15 minutes of international fame. Recently, however, one can find that there are many more new wines in the  regions that surround  Cape Town, and that is what this blog post aims to educate you on.

• Not long ago, Ms. Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, said that exports to the U.S. increased 32% for the recent World Cup period, with most other participating nations showing dramatic volume increases as well.  Later this year, 12 nations will participate in the Sommelier World Cup in Cape Town, with a continued focus on the wines and winegrowing regions of South Africa.

• Positioned for substantial growth after U.S. exports topped 940,000 cases to U.S.  in 2007, South Africa should exceed 1 million for the first time this year.

• Linking the wines vineyard via the Wine of Origin system (1974) to the growing practices of that vineyard, has culminated in the South African introduction of the worlds first Sustainability Seal, a guarantee of eco-friendly production began in April. Available from 2010 to wineries who have passed the accreditation of the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) set of farm, winery and bottling principles, it is expected that by 2011 a full 80% of the nations wines will display Sustainability Seals, according to Sustainable Wine South Africa (SWSA).

• Backsberg, the first South African winery to achieve carbon neutral status, recently announced that they will begin selling eco-friendly Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc wines in plastic bottles thru the country’s second largest retailer, Pick n Pay Stores, Ltd., according to Bloomberg.com.

• Simon Farr of Bibendum , one of the UK’s largest
retail wine companies, says, “The rise in quality of South Africa has been nothing short of remarkable in the past five years alone”.  But today’s current challenge for South Africa, a blend of Old World and New World Styles, remains as it has had below average harvests in 2009 & 2010, creating a potential wine industry grape supply shortfall.

• Origin labeling, if declared, 100 percent must come from the region, ward or vineyard listed. Wine of Origin (WO) legislation was passed in 1973 to certify label claims. Any bottle with a white banderole on top of the capsule, bearing a compliance number, has been tested and scrutinized by the analysis of the Wine & Spirit Board.

With a history of producing fortified wines for maritime commerce, South Africa’s cooperative movement began in 1905. By the mid-20th century, a single national cooperative, the KWV, had morphed into a dominating price cartel that controlled all wine transactions. In the 1990′s the cartel began to return some of its powers to other organizations, and by 1997, the KWV was officially converted into a private company.  Today, coops in South Africa still represent the majority grape growers, as they handle 85% of the country’s total grape harvest, which is still dominated by white varietals, like Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc.  Even as co-op numbers go unchanged, small estate wineries here are on the rise in the diverse wine regions  South Africa.

Sitting between the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, this nations climate is cooler than its latitude suggests due to the cold, Benguela Current, flowing from Antarctica, and the constant ocean breezes.  The most notable of these is called the “Cape Doctor” which blows in fiercely from the southeast over the summer months.  As a result, the warmer inland regions tend to produce irrigated, volume wine grapes, where as the cool coastal regions surrounding Cape Town, produce the finest examples of New World grapes with Old World style.  Yet today, most of South Africa’s grapes go into its spirit distillation programs.

Of South Africa’s 21 wine districts, and the 64 smaller wards, the northernmost wine region is the hot and dry Olifants River, which still has brandy production as its mainstay. Of the other important regions, Swartland‘s vineyards are heavily irrigated, and it’s grape growers tend to be represented by co-ops.  Heading South towards the Cape, and running West to East are the hot Worchester region (largest by grape volume), and the cooler Robertson region, known for its white wines.

Closer to Cape Town lies Paarl, with its Mediterranean climate, producing some of the best of the nations white and now red wines.  Almost surrounded by Paarl is the ‘Gourmet Capital’, Franschoek, a warm area having current success with many different varieties. To the South lies Stellenbosch, a leading wine area of complex geology, with a world famous agricultural university and varietal diversity.  South of Cape Town is Constantia, home to the nation’s first wine production, it’s sweet dessert wines were even the rage in 18th Century Europe.

This nations dynamic wine industry is destined to grow, with value driven varietals, increased  international investment, and a national push for a world-wide eco-friendly identity.  South African wines today offer an innovative taste of the familiar that are new and exotic, many at bargain prices. In the top ten of world wine production, South Africa has in that last decades taken a rapid path of regulatory quality for its export wines, recognizing that it  had some catching-up to do.  “As long as the quality-value ratio is strong, the only limit on South African wines in the United States is consumer education”, says Stephanie Gallo, vice president of marketing at E and J Gallo Winery, importer of the Sebeka brand.

What do you think of these new Sustainability Seals and Biodiversity Wine Initiatives? Is our wine any greener?