South Africa: Beauty and Challenge

Getting to explore South African wine was an absolute privilege.  I am fortunate to work for the WSET, the world’s largest provider of wine education, and, in particular, to work in the small unit that researches and writes the student materials for our 100,000+ students around the world.  Having been a blogger and then spent many years as a wine student, it is a dream job.  These days, researchers spend a great deal of time on the web researching regions and wines, alongside the printed materials available to us. But we do also go on trips, especially to visit less well-documented regions. 

However, even I was surprised and absolutely thrilled when I was asked whether I would be willing to visit and study South African wine in 2018.  I had tried to make a case for visiting Australia and was told that we had less in-house expertise on South Africa and what did I think… With the help of Wines of South Africa (who kindly paid for in-territory transport), I was able to visit the Cape for a thrilling and very moving voyage of discovery. Here are the posts: 

• A Chenin Blanc welcome 
• A week of wine in the Western Cape 
• Sauvignon, Pinot, Chardonnay and gastronomy in the Western Cape
• Western Cape photos 
• Best wines of my South African trip 

Regenerative viticulture, Cinsault and South Coasters in South Africa, 2025

I had the second fantastic chance to revisit South Africa for the WSET, six years after my first research trip there. Janet and I saw several remarkable examples of growers putting regen into practice: no tilling to sequester carbon; use of cover crops; animals and birds in the vineyards to build up biodiversity and reduce pests (geese protect the snail-eating ducks from lynx!); high-density controlled grazing by cattle or pigs; and spraying with homemade compost ‘tea’. Other important themes were the rise (or rebirth) of Cinsault as an alternate lighter style red and the growth of wineries on the South Coast beyond Hermanus and Elgin. However exciting the wines are, the industry continues to struggle: 40 per cent of wineries are trading at a loss. Such a beautiful country, such great people and so many challenges on every front.

Here is the presentation I made to WSET colleagues on my research visit of 2025.