A Rich Wine History Seeks Completion

The crinkled tuxedo and red wine stains are still moist on the once-crisp white shirt, and I am thinking about last night’s all dressed-up event at Groot Constantia for the annual blessing of the South African wine harvest, as well as the annual honouring of the country’s wine legends. Those men and – a few – women who have been identified as having played profound roles in the Cape wine industry.

Johann Krige, proprietor of Kanonkop Estate, received the evening’s main accolade, namely that of the 1659 Award for Visionary Leadership, well-deserved as have been most of the previous recipients.

This lauding of the country’s exceptional wine people began in 1974 within the surrounds of the KWV, being moved to Groot Constantia just over a decade ago. The occasion is relevant, not only underscoring the fact that Cape wine has a long and illustrious history, but also acting as a reminder that formidable South Africans with wine coursing through their veins and vinous philosophy inhabiting their minds have allowed the industry to progress through these persons’ respective roles and influence.

It was a great occasion, one of reverence and respect complemented by spirited camaraderie in a magnificent setting. Groot Constantia remains the home and heart of South African wine.

But if the country’s industry truly wants to honour the roles individuals have played in its evolution as one embodying the connection that exists between the influential South African people of the past and the status of today’s industry, then more must be done.

It is befitting to annually honour certain people with a brief summary of their contributions to everything Brand SA Wine encompasses today. But what is needed is to put the contributions and dynamic roles of these individuals into context through a platform where the story of South African wine is once and forever fully, comprehensively and correctly told.

South Africa has a unique, multi-faceted, complex and rich wine history, but this statement is not suitably backed up with authoritative and engaging details of record. To put it bluntly, if one is looking for the story of Cape wine in books or websites, details are all over the place, inconsistent and in many instances factually incorrect.  Statistics are, fortunately, in good hands due to the sterling work of Sawis. But the recording of a progressive narrative depicting pitfalls, challenges, ups-and-downs and successes, is lacking. It needs complete telling. One of how the wine industry truly came to be where it is today. How dramatic and visionary changes were driven by people of pioneering spirit, people spurred on by that wonderful combination of creativity, reality and foresightedness together with an in-bred commitment to pursuing a better proposition for the wine world in which they live. And what the effect of their actions and spirits were, sometimes against the hard-headed confinement of authority regulation.

Take Kanonkop as but one example in the modern history reflecting the extent to which South African wine has changed for the better.

From the late 1940s until 1973, Kanonkop – like many of today’s famous wine-producing estates, was making bulk wine for selling to a large brand-owner, in their case Stellenbosch Farmers Winery, with this wine ending-up bottled under large commercial labels.

Only 52 years ago – but a breath in the world of wine – did Kanonkop bottle its first estate wine under an own label. By doing, so the estate was a part of the shift in focus and of mindset among of a group of Cape producers towards creating wines that reflect a region and a specific wine farm’s geographic finger-print. Which in turn led to aspects that are today deemed a given when talking about wine, such as greater emphasis on vineyard quality, matching variety to suitable terroir and an awareness of the role of expertise and creativity in the cellar.

Accordingly, in one pause in history, the offering of South African wine changed dramatically in terms of quality and diversity, just as it is now continuously changing every year.

Parts of this history have been recorded by the estate’s themselves, as well as in recent books, but a complete precis on the extent to which the story of Cape wine changed over the past 60 years to being the multi-faceted and revered distinctive South African feature it is today, remains largely lacking.

Another chunk of information currently residing in a void, is on the introduction of grape cultivars to the Cape. With official records only going back to 1973, scant and mostly anecdotal evidence exists on when, where and by who varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Shiraz were introduced into the South African winelands, and what wines were made from them, when.

The list goes on. It is eventful, colourful, fascinating and, mostly, important.

The needs of the industry are vast, and they are many. But one that stands out is an official researched platform, albeit print, online, film or whatever, from where the complete history of South African can be viewed, used and promoted.

For you can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have come from.