White is the New Red
Brandon MarcWhen it comes to white wines I tend to be quite fickle, so only award winning wines will do. Unfortunately, my expensive taste comes with a high price… literally. But you’d be pleased to know that this is not always the case, and one can find high quality white wines at agreeable prices.
A few years back white wine was viewed as red wines cheaper cousin, but since then South Africa has slowly been producing white wines that can compete internationally. This fact was highlighted in WINE Magazine’s November 2008 edition when it was reported that Sadie’s Mrs Kirsten’s Old Vines 2006 launched as the country’s most expensive white wine at R824.05 per bottle. Now I’m not necessarily saying that these high prices are justified, though they might well be, but it certainly is an indication that South African white wines are starting to be valued as world class.
‘…it’s our job to identify the quality wine from over-priced plonk.’
To some this might seem like bad news for the local consumer, but I maintain that provided the quality of wine is to standard I have no problem paying a premium. However, some brands will inevitably take advantage of the situation and hike their prices without much justification, and it’s our job to identify the quality wine from over-priced plonk.
So, get tasting and remember to share your white wine experiences with us here on My Wine Cellar…
Cheers!
Brandon Marc
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Comments
Brandon Marc (Who am I?) Peter, your opinions are always welcome here on My Wine Cellar 
Quote: ‘Now I’m not necessarily saying that these high prices are justified, though they might well be, but it certainly is an indication that South African white wines are starting to be valued as world class.’
What I mean by the above statement is that *some* white wines are justified by their higher than average price tags.
The brand that I mentioned in my post was merely an extreme example, and I leave it up to My Wine Cellar readers to decide for themselves.
As for me, I won’t crit a wine until I’ve actually tasted it, regardless of its price.
For this reason I plan to do a Magna Carta tasting in SA early January 2009 and will no doubt post my tasting notes here on My Wine Cellar.
And if I feel that the wine is worth cellaring I will purchase a case (that’s ONE case Peter :)) for my private cellar.
Brandon Marc
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Anetha (Who am I?) Just a correction on your pricing of Steenberg Magna Carta: we sell the wine for R395 a bottle from Cellar Door, Caroline’s sell it for R396,00 and Wine Concepts for R399. We have set a solid track record for the wine with past performances of our Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, the building blocks of Magna Carta. In addition to that, our wines proved to age beautifully, with a recent tasting of 1996 Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc showing amazingly fresh and delicious.
I think it is about time for South African producers to show confidence in our products - if we don’t, we can hardly convince anyone out there that we produce great wines - world class wines. I do agree that one cannot merely put a huge price to a wine to mark it’s quality - it has to have solid back-up.
Magna Carta is still a baby, and will only get better over a good couple of years. And yes, we are quite pleased with the sales…..
I look forward to your tasting results. If anyone wants tasting before the time, we have a Magna Carta tasting at our Cellar Door on 3 December, where we will show the ageing potential of the building blocks,moving on to Magna Carta.
PS: The R824.05 price tag belongs to another white blend producer.
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Brandon Marc (Who am I?) Thank you for the correction Anetha, I have edited my post accordingly.
However, I am still very keen to attend a Magna Carta tasting
Brandon Marc
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You certainky are making some provocative comments so I hope you forgive me if I take part in this thread also with an opposing view.
IMO the only justification for an R825 bottle is if they can actually sell it at that price. And saying that your wine is worth that doesn’t make it so, neither does it mean it is valued as ‘world class’ — lts see ifthe wolrd beats a path to buy up the wines.
SA seem sto have a real chip on its shoulder re pricing of wine. It sees classed growth clarets selling for a couple of hundred dollars and thinks ‘why isn’t my bx blend fethch that’. Reasons simple: the claret has a long track record of quality, more people want it than there is product and investors know it will appreciate in value.
Whats the track record of SA wineries? 10 years? I steh product limited? Not really, wineries have no legal limits on what they can produce. Are they traded by investors?
Nope.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading your tasting note of this R825 bottle. How many cases are you buying?