and character of the wine; the star rating was incidental. We have never lost sight of the fact that the original intention was, first, to try and explain to the reader what the winemaker’ s intention is, and, second, to give our own rating based on that intention and all the other things that go with it. So it’ s trying to interpret the wine to the reader, rather than being judgmental about it. Unfortunately, in this day and age, there’ s a strong focus on ratings, and getting the ratings right— and if you don’ t get it right, there are major problems! But I really do feel that what we’ re trying to do is convey the dynamism and variety and enthusiasm, and all the good things that are happening in the industry, rather than just the ratings.
GH The Platter’ s wine guide has grown enormously since its first publication in 1980; it’ s a much thicker book. What is the current scope of the project?
PVZ We don’ t get to taste all of the wines, because they’ re not all submitted; they’ re not all ready at a given time. As a rule, we don’ t re-taste vintages that we tasted last time that are still available in stores, much as we’ d like to. But potentially, in theory, we could end up tasting over 7,000 wines! How many have you tasted in your past two weeks of travels?
Mike Muirhead [ MM ] We’ ve tasted about 300 wines in the time we’ ve been here.
PVZ Well, that’ s pretty good!
GH What would you say makes South African wines unique in the wine world?
PVZ South African wines have quite a distinctive style, and quite a distinctive flavour profile that is somewhere between the Old World and the New World. There is increasing experimentation— a kind of joyful upwelling of enthusiasm— about traditional varieties like Clairette Blanche or Cinsault. They are being revived and vinified in a serious way to bring out their flavour profiles, whereas before they would have been used as blending components in a very minor way. That link between the present and past is exciting and hopefully getting translated. Because so many of the wineries are familyowned, there’ s a lot of authenticity— people are trying their very best to select the best vineyards or best sites, and to bring out the character of the site in the most authentic way possible.
GH We’ ve noticed over the last few years an increasing purity in South African wines. And now, on this trip, we’ ve noticed increasing complexity and refinement. Is this a correct perception, and when did this shift happen?
PVZ My feeling is that the transition to democracy— from the bad old days to the good new days— coincided with a generation change. And the new generation was
Especially for the smaller winemakers, the way forward is to use whatever tools you need to communicate a story; go back to your basic philosophy, your family history, find out the story.
very quick to avail themselves of opportunities to go work and study overseas, and expose themselves to what else was happening in the wine world. Their parents did not have this opportunity. So suddenly, from 1990 until democracy in 1994, we had an explosion of contact with the outside world. That period was critical. And in fact, there’ s another generational change happening right now. So that’ s going to be phase two: post-democracy— the next twenty years— and it’ s going to be even more exciting, because they’ ve already assimilated the lessons from the outside world.
MM We’ ve sensed this“ generational shift” in our travels. Who do you see as the people who are really pushing the boundaries?
PVZ I think Peter-Allan Finlayson [ of Crystallum Wines ] is a good example. His dad [ Peter Finlayson ] is wine industry royalty in South Africa, and he’ s making wine with similar varieties, like Chardonnay, and doing an awesome job.
MM We’ ve heard from winemakers that South Africa, as a unified industry, needs to be on the world stage. Is South Africa at the point where they can focus on regionality? Or do you think it should still be,“ Let’ s promote South Africa”?
PVZ I think that, as a country, we need to have very, very clear and infectious positioning. I think that’ s very important, but I also think there needs to be a regional emphasis where it is relevant. Most regions are really quite patriotic and would like to come under that general South African brand.
MM How beneficial is the Wine of Origin( WO) system for indicating to consumers what they are getting?
PVZ That is a very good question because, on the one hand, the WO system functions as a guarantee of certain things being in place and being monitored. From that point of view, it’ s a good thing for the consumer. If the wine is certified“ Stellenbosch” they know that the grapes are from Stellenbosch. But the huge diversity in styles within regions, when compared to the Old World, means that you cannot necessarily recognize the style of the area. So it would be quite difficult, even for seasoned palates to recognize the particular character in a particular variety— in Stellenbosch, for example. At this stage, the regional qualities are quite subtle still. There are the beginnings of differentiation, but it’ s not as terribly overt as it is in some Old World regions.
GH How do you see South Africa going forward?
PVZ Especially for the smaller winemakers, the way forward is to use whatever tools you need to communicate a story; go back to your basic philosophy, your family history, find out the story you want to tell, and communicate that in a coherent and consistent way to your target markets.
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