Wine Investment in South Africa - Cape Wine Academy

“…anyway, 95 isn’t enough now, now you need 98 or 99 to really get noticed”
( Sadie, 2011 Appendix H )
Sadie echoes many winemakers in South Africa and elsewhere who don’t “play the award
game” ( Sadie, 2011 Appendix H ) and who don’t want their wines as collector’s items or
investment opportunities, now or in the future.
South African wines have never become regular features in the pages of ‘The Wine
Advocate’, Robert Parker’s influential US buyer’s journal. Part of the problem was his – and
his key tasters - lack of familiarity with SA wines given their small role on the world stage. SA
Master of Wine Greg Sherwood wrote on the Wine Anorak website in 2002 that,
‘.. to my knowledge, no large and comprehensive tasting of all the top ( SA ) wines
has been carried out recently in the way Mr Parker has just done with boutique
Australian offerings’ ( Sherwood, 2002 ).
This may change now that ‘The Wine Advocate’ has a new taster with responsibility for
South Africa. Neal Martin, a British wine writer, is more familiar with SA wines and perhaps,
more kindly inclined toward them as his comments in 8.2.3 show. Good news for some, but
again Eben Sadie has his doubts, fearing that winemakers might start to make wines to gain
high scores, something SA wines have largely avoided so far.
Still, more than 100 SA wines have been given ratings of the all-important 90+ points over
the years by Parker and several, including Ken Forrester’s FMC Chenin Blanc, Sadie’s
Columella and Warwick’s Trilogy have achieved 95 points. Normally, 95 points would ensure
instant worldwide attention, esteem and immediate un-availability. In the case of most
French, Italian and Spanish blue chip wines, such a rating would make them very scarce
indeed, whatever was not withheld at the Château / Estate would be taken by agents or
importers who would adjust their prices with rising demand. Very few bottles would make the
shelves of retailers and it would be necessary to join a waiting list to purchase by the case
through a large dealer such as Berry Bros. & Rudd in the UK. You might or might not be
lucky and requesting, say, ten cases might see you receive three. With South African wines
this is not often the case. Part of the problem is that most SA wines are easily available,
there is rarely the clamour on release which sees them disappear overseas or to
corporations. Some SA wines are in huge demand, of course, but most suffer because;
“Supply is bigger than demand, there is no scarcity value, it is too easy to get the
wines” ( Peens, 2011 appendix F ).
Scarcity increases desire; a Château Latour on a supermarket shelf anywhere in Europe
would be a rare event and would not be there for many hours, a Meerlust Rubicon can be
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