Do you know somebody who likes drinking wine? Read on — you’ve just solved your Christmas gift conundrum. If you’re partial yourself, there’s something in this cross-section of wine books for you too. And, for those of you who may have defined yourselves as oenologically challenged, oeno-phobic even, here’s an opportunity to discover that a little wine knowledge goes a long way. Wine appreciation is, after all, a sublime combination of knowing and being. Read, taste, and experience the satori of Sauvignon.
Wines of South Africa: Exploring the Cape Winelands by Graham Knox and Alain Proust (Fernwood) masquerades very successfully as a beautiful coffee-table book, when it is, in fact, more like a textbook. It offers a panoramic view, in all senses of the word, of wine production in South Africa.
As such, it would make an ideal gift for anyone who shows a tremendous interest in getting wine out of the bottle but knows little about how it got in. Not only does it supply information on the ins and outs of viti- and viniculture, it doubles up as a wine-route guide, with a chapter on regional wine routes and essential information regarding facilities and tasting times. It also has a chapter in which 25 prominent winemakers wax liqoural about winemaking.
If you’ve ever thought about packing up and moving to the Western Cape, Proust’s photographs may push you over the edge.
Now we’ve separated our Muscats from our Merlots, our woodeds from our unwoodeds, it’s time to go shopping and tasting. What better aid than the mother of all wine guides, the award-winning John Platter’s Wine Guide 2003 (Injectrade), now in its 23rd year. Besides the 2003 updated A to Z of wines and wineries, this guide has detailed wine-route maps that inform you at a glance which wineries are open on weekends, which offer meals and which are wheelchair-friendly.
Most useful for the budding enthusiast in search of a vocabulary is the glossary of useful winemaking and appreciating words and phrases. Wineries are listed alphabetically and their wines rated according to a five-star system, with five stars being ‘Superlative. A Cape classic.” and no star meaning ‘Somewhat less than ordinary.” Editor Philip van Zyl wisely warns us to ‘view the ratings as adjuncts to the tasting notes, rather than oracular pronouncements”. The tasting notes themselves, written by a team of well-respected gurus of the grape, give you general style indicators and technical details (when these affect the character of the wine).
Wine Magazine publishes very user-friendly wine guides every year. This year there are three. Its more general Pocket Guide doesn’t have the tasting notes that make the Platter so special, but it does have an easily accessible record of a wine’s performance in the most prestigious South African wine shows, going back to 1994.
So, besides offering you a comprehensive guide to wines and wineries, the Pocket Guide is a useful gift for the person who has been adding to their wine cellar for years and might like to evaluate their collection on the basis of any medals their wines may have won. The names of popular wines are cross-referenced in the A to Z listings; a handy tool if you don’t know which winery they’re from. In addition, having studied the glossy textbook and learnt that terroir isn’t a French dog, the reader will find the list of single vineyard wines very interesting.
The next wine guide, Icons: Art of the Wine Label by Jeffrey Caldeway and Chuck House (Wine Appreciation Guild), is best suited for collectors and investors. It lists the winners of a new South African wine competition, The Fairburn Capital Trophy Wine Show, which identifies the best wines in various categories according to international quality standards.
Michael Fridjhon, the show chair-person, warns: ‘South African wine buyers will have to make purchasing decisions that separate groceries from investments.” In other words, if it’s investments you’re looking for, go shopping now — and take this guide with you. It also comes with an A to Z of all wineries and their wines.
If you or your giftee is more of a grocery shopper than an investor, then Wine Magazine’s Best Value Wine Guide 2003 is an obvious purchase. This highly informative guide uses a neat equation and a mark out of 10 to determine a wine’s value for money, taking into account things like its quality, the price ceiling of R35 a bottle, and the grape variety.
Wines are categorised according to type and then ranked in order of their value. Each wine is accompanied by tasting notes and a separate quality rating, using Wine Magazine‘s five-star system. This guide is also an invaluable resource to restaurateurs worth their salt, always on the look-out for good-quality, cheaper wines to balance out their wine lists. One of the problems with guides like this, though, is that they do the job so well — a bargain today might be sold out tomorrow.
Now you’re acquainted with the South African wine scene, expand your horizons with Africa Uncorked: Travels in Extreme Wine Territory (Kylie Cathie). Written by the doyen and doyenne of the South African wine world, it’s a travel book first and a wine book second. Erica and John Platter regale the reader with many a wry tale as they go on an unlikely search for locally produced wine in North, East and Southern Africa, ‘surviving border crossings, cyclones, mosquitoes, leeches and, in some cases, the wine itself.” It’s a very entertaining read and will make an excellent gift for the confirmed oenophile.
Buy them all and you have an excellent starter pack — Wino 2003.