South Africa’s Cape Town may have dodged ‘Day Zero’, when the possibility of the city running out of water was nail bitingly close, but the country’s water crisis isn’t over yet. Drought still afflicts much of the Cape and the threat of Day Zero remains very real. It is hard to imagine living off 90 litres a day – for washing, flushing, cleaning and drinking.
Just to add to the country’s woes, a state of disaster has been declared over its power crisis with blackouts lasting up to 12 hours a day. The bulk of South Africa’s energy is generated by coal fired power stations, owned by Eskom, an essentially unviable, unsustainable business, with close ties to the Ramaphosa regime. Gross mismanagement and corruption has plagued Eskom for years, so there’s still a very long way to go before the crisis is resolved.
Unemployment stands at 33 per cent and 33 is roughly how many murders are committed every day by firearms. The murder rate is the highest in Africa and growing, and it’s the most dangerous country in the world to be a farmer. What then of their grape growers and vineyards?
If we are to understand wine as an expression of place then what are we to say of South African wine? How can a country that has so utterly failed its citizenry produce any wine worthy of consideration? Is it ethical to drink them at all?
Despite the nation’s struggles, South Africa is without a doubt the world’s most exciting country for wine. Classical European expressions can be brilliant, yet it is the unique blends based on the country’s traditional hotchpotch of varieties that are unique and, at their best, incomparable vinous beauties.
The Italians have a term Viticoltura Eroica, or Heroic Viticulture, and if anywhere this term applies, it is South Africa. There is a natural conjugation between true grit and beautiful wine, yet it’s ironic that you can’t taste the sweat, dust or blood. The wines are amongst the finest in the world, invariably offering terrific value. It’s a moral imperative then to try these wines considering the effort, sacrifices and risks of the producer. And perhaps that is the vine’s greatest gift of all; beautiful expressions of anywhere, irrespective of the struggles and miseries perpetuated around their little patch of dirt.
