SOUTH AFRICA | WINES
Getting
BEHIND THE LABEL [ WRITER: Homer ]
[ PHOTO: Freepix.com ]
Greetings fellow aficionados of wine. In the previous article we walked through the history, basics of grape varieties and wine styles. Our journey now takes us to understanding what we are actually buying when we walk down our wine aisle. It can be quite a daunting task to the novice to differentiate between a seemingly endless selection, when facing shelves of wines with jargon on the bottles. All we want is a decent bottle and rush to that dinner party or occasion without the time to wonder or ask a usually equally baffled shop attendant. We look at what is behind the understanding of the ‘label’ and not become a ‘wine snob’, that very individual the late Raymond Postgate author of Plain man’s Guide to Wine described as they ‘who uses a knowledge of wine, often imperfect, to impress with a sense of their superiority.’ Two skilled league of people come to mind when we seek an authority on wines, one being the Enologist the other a Sommelier something we cannot all become for the sake of buying our favorite wine or explore a new varietal. Selecting a wine is more complex than choosing any other beverage as it goes beyond just drinking, with wine boasting so many uses, including the cooking. Will it be for that special celebration, something on a hot summer day - which we can relate to in these parts - or is it for that special meal we have cooked or simply easy drinking. Now that you have an understanding of red and white varietals, what we read off the label
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TRAVEL & LEISURE | May - Aug 2021
helps make that choice simpler and allows a certain degree of mastery to choose the appropriate bottle. When reading wine labels you must be aware that there is a difference between old world (European) and new world (rest of the world) wine naming conventions. We will focus on new world wines since we are influenced in our regional market by one of the world’s largest producer, South Africa. Rule of thumb is however; Old world wines, on one hand, are usually labelled by appellation. That means the label probably won’t tell you what kind of grape the wine is made from. It will only tell you where the wine was made. New world wines, (American, Australian South American, South African and others) are usually labelled by grape name. The label will tell you whether you’re buying a Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc or Cabernet Sauvignon.
