25 January 2005

Suspect journalism and a wine-making breakthrough

You might have noticed that a little flurry of distress was occasioned in the official parts of the local wine industry very recently by an important British journalist, Tim Atkin, reflecting somewhat tardily on the sauvignon blanc additive scandal. He spoke of a ‘current rumour in South Africa’ about the names of more flavourant-favouring wineries being released soon.

I rather think, actually, that the rumour was limited to the one winemaker whom Tim quotes and chose to believe above all the well-placed locals he consulted – who had never heard of the rumour. I suspect I know who the ill-informed loudmouth is (someone I would never rely on for more than good wine, frankly), but I’ll leave damaging public speculation to the respectable, non-sensationalist journalists....

One thing that intrigued me about the article, actually, was a trait I’d notice before on occasion: how, among the liberal reaches of Englishdom (in South Africa and abroad), one is somehow allowed to be racist about Afrikaners. Tim Atkin comments that ‘the scandal has shaken the [KWV] to its Afrikaner core’. (He doesn’t adduce evidence for this, but perhaps he’s better informed on the quakings at the centre of big companies than he is on forthcoming revelations from the Wine & Spirit Board.) I wonder, though, if he would find it in his heart and conscience to substitute, say, ‘Jewish’ or ‘Zulu’ for ‘Afrikaner’ in a sentence like the one quoted? I suspect he’d quickly recognise the thought and analysis as the racism it is ... and thus a practice to be tut-tutted at by the white male middle-class Anglo-Saxon core of British journalism.

On a pleasanter note, I’m thrilled to see that Distell has made a flavour break-through which doesn’t rely on unnatural additives. They have promised the release of a marvellous new Fleur du Cap Merlot, made from ‘only the finest sun-ripened grapes’. What a good idea – presumably the grapes ripened by ultra-violet lamps in the depths of the Bergkelder will go to making lesser wines. I suspect we might see viticulturists around the world rushing into their vineyards to tear down the shade-cloth and umbrellas once they hear of this!