South Africa- The Trailer...

January 24, 2017

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Wine Merchant in want of a really exciting, exclusive, heart-stoppingly brilliant range of South African wines, needs to get off his fat, lazy, all too well proportioned arse and do something about it.

And so it was, dear readers, that the first weeks of 2017 saw us assembling a hit list of potential targets whose wines, whilst recognised and regarded in many markets, are still to cross the radar in the UK. I can’t tell you how many coffee-fuelled hours have been spent poring over John Platter’s guide, Tim Atkin MW’s 2016 report and, tragically but necessarily, Google but perhaps the most fun we had was dragging our very own tame Afrikaaner, Lucas Swanepoel, down into the bowels of the Connolly’s cellars where we shone bright lights into his eyes and pumped him for the names of his favourite winemakers – the scars may eventually heal but I’m not sure his fingernails will ever grow back!

Suitably armed, approaches have been made to said wineries, appointments arranged, flights booked and camera retrieved from the pawn shop. Departure may still be three weeks away but let there be no doubt, we are very excited about the visits we have lined up; numerous commentators (yours truly amongst them) have described South Africa as the most exciting of southern hemisphere wine producers and it is a reputation built largely on the vision of a new generation of winemakers. I shall be blogging on a regular basis throughout the trip to whet your appetites for the delights to come and it is safe to assume that we shall be hosting a whole series of tastings in the Spring – watch this space……

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