Of boerewors and cassis 23 April 2008

Wine snobbery and the need for something else


From Bubba Lass:
I wonder what happened in the rugby… But I cannot possibly air that thought in my current situation. I am amongst the crème de la crème of society. The wine fundis. Me, I am what you can call an Afrikaner. A Dutchman, rock spider or clutchplate if you want. But I hide it well. My English is accentless, I don’t replace the –th sound with a double f and my grammar is quite good actually. I drink wine, only the good stuff, as opposed to brandy and coke and my knowledge of music is not limited to Nicolis Louw.

But here I am, amongst the swirlers and spitters. My company uses words like 'cassis' and 'fraise' instead of blackcurrent and strawberry. We discuss the virtues of screwcap versus cork, the influence of French oak as opposed to other European oaks. We hold our glasses against a white background, swirl them and stick our noses in them. We take a sip with our noses still very near the inside of the glass and after making sucking noises and mouth rinsing movements we spit the stream of liquid into a bucket. We are the 'connoiseurs' of wine.

And all the time I wonder what the score was.

As anybody who has any contact with the South African wine industry knows, our per capita wine consumption is dropping. From around 9 litres per person per year a few years ago, it has dropped to a measly 7 litres per person per year. And as I stand in my exalted company I think to myself – it's no bloody wonder. Us wine snobs have made it such an art to be snobby about our hobby (I love a good rhyme) that anybody who has no clue will at the least be annoyed with the company he has to endure or worse, be so intimidated that he or she never touches the stuff again.

Somewhere someone needs to make a decision – preferably in government – that wine culture should be taught in schools. And I am not talking getting the children drunk. I am saying, let us get a wine giant like Distell print some books (goodness knows, they like spreading the wealth around in many other ways…) about wine and the wine culture that exists in the world and let us teach that to our kids from the age of 14. It is here that you can teach responsible alcohol consumption, it is here that you can teach children about the miracle of the grape and vine, the science and the art of winemaking, and the wonder of having an advanced palate and nose. In short, let us teach them about how wonderful the nectar of the gods really is and let us get the South African wine industry out of the doldrums and back to where it should be.

As I take a sip of a very young Cabernet Sauvignon and pucker up from the big tannin, I catch the eye of another gentleman. He looks at me with big eyes and mouths the words 'Do you know what happened in the rugby?' I just shrug and wonder why I am here instead of drinking wine with some friends at a braai. Wine in South Africa needs to move away from the snotty and into the realm of the everyman.

Hear, hear – though I don't see why we snobs shouldn't also play our little games. I wish we had a magnum of Dom P to give you as a prize for both your pseudonym and your letter, though pehaps a bottle of Tassies would be more appropriate. — Ed

COMMENT

From Poor Tom!:
Dankie tog vir die bubbalass! What the snobs (even the French for it is "snob" - a truly transcending word then) so easily forget amongst all their games and illusions of grandeur, is that wine is made by real people. And wine made by real people (sout van die aarde mense), usually tastes that bit better than that poncy bloke's plonk! I know a great deal of folk that will toast a glass of good wine (not Tass) to your prose, Mr Lass!
Ps. Best thing to do to get the rugby score - get one of those fancy phones or miraculously develop a weak bladder!

From Dion:
I could comment for hours on this topic, it is a personal favourite of mine...where to begin! The broader population (read millions of potential wine drinkers) don’t give a damn about vintage, terroir, nose and all the other pompous wine jargon. Marketing is about appealing to people's emotions, their emotional needs...

How about a national red wine ...maybe Beyerskloof Pinotage...marketed in a big way, a mega brand if you like. Calling to heart our patriotism, our love for this wonderful unique and naturally beautiful country...How about a mega white wine (or rose), promoted as a fun, happy,sunny skies and enjoying life wine. I have seen an ad for Beach House White (if my memory serves me)... what the hell about a beach house is going to make me drink loads of the stuff? Years ago we had Liberstein, Graca, Tassenburg etc – why have these brands lost their lustre? WINE SNOBS! Because these are all 1 star wines in their eyes, too green, too weedy etc. Who wants to be seen drinking a wine the snobs turn their noses up to.

In the latest Wine magazine it says something about Pinotage being a braai wine...Great! Millions of South Africans braai, heck it’s our national pasttime, what can be better than red meat on the braai and to be proud of (emotion) local red wine! Lets grow the broad base of wine drinkers, and so what if 80% of South Africans want to drink cheap, nasty 1 star wine, as long as it is fun! You will always have people who appreciate the finer wines and the beauty that goes with it, BUT most people don''t want that and aren't looking to be Masters of Wine. Given a choice, what would the average consumer drink...a beer, cider a cooler or wine ...? If you choose wine, is it red is it white or a rose? Swirl this way, drink from this glass, smells like ... Reduce wine to its common simplest form, introduce millions of new people to its simple beauty and then we can start talking about the nuances of wine appreciation.