The heavy grey clouds lifted just enough to reveal the light dusting of snow on the Drakenstein mountains. It was the sort of sight that is unusual enough in this corner of the Western Cape that it immediately lifts the spirits and brings out a childlike wonder in us all. If we’re lucky it happens once a year. Consequently, it was the first topic of conversation among the judges at Wine magazine’s final swansong – the Best Value Guide selection taking place at Pearl Valley golf course.

On day three of the tasting we needed a lift of our spirits since a number of us were leopard crawling towards the finish line! We’d already done a screening session of the nearly 1 000 entries and reduced the numbers to a more manageable total for two panels to tackle over three mornings.

The barrier to entry for this competition is that a wine cost R60 or less – and that it also makes a minimum 2½ star quality threshold. Now, to my mind, R60 or less can buy you a whole lot of value when looking at a simple, easy-drinking wine. In the white wine category there’s a huge amount of choice and variety. With red wines it’s somewhat more difficult because you have to factor in a certain amount of oak influence – in whatever shape or form, usually chips or staves.

So it was a real pleasure that the category which displayed the most abundant drinking pleasure and quaffability was Pinotage. Ample ripe and juicy freshness with lovely primary fruit – think raspberries, cranberries and even blackberries with just a light sheen of oak. It’s not going to have the thinking man’s drinker hunting for adjectives or hidden depths but it will offer lots of enjoyment either around the braai fire or the dinner table accompanying a stew.

Of course, coffee Pinotage has been a topic of conversation of late. Just this week Wines of South Africa released a statement about the Department of Agriculture’s stance on the topic viz. that when it is wood-derived as part of the winemaking process it is fully compliant with the law. This coffee style first emerged from Diemersfontein in 2001, “by accident” as winemaker at the time Bertus Fourie admits. So it was interesting to note that there were just two examples in this under R60 class which displayed that character. One of them proclaims its style in the name (which cannot be released since the competition results have not been announced) but the coffee character is not as overt as it has been in previous years. There’s no doubt that consumers love being able to ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ but winemakers are toning it down to a slightly decaffeinated or skinny version…

Pinotage has been beaten up quite roundly over the past few years – by local and foreign critics. It’s fantastic that the pendulum has swung the other way and that this competition and others are finding merit in the grape – even if it is just simple, everyday enjoyment. Keep it uncomplicated, don’t overdo the winemaking or oaking and it’ll reward with drinking pleasure in abundance.

South Africa’s winemaking future is in safe hands.

The evidence to prove it took the form of a preview of the wines which will go under the hammer at the Cape Winemakers Guild auction at Spier on October 1. The aim of the Guild which was established 29 years ago was to try and produce wines of world-beating standard. Membership remains by invitation only and while there are a few of the country’s hottest oenological prospects who don’t require validation by belonging, the fact remains that arguably South Africa’s best and brightest belong to this august guild.

Just 39 wines of the 58 items (there is a potstill brandy on offer too) were tasted informally at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Obviously, impressions of the wines on offer differ but there were a few standouts for me. Neil Ellis’ Rodanos 2007 blend of Syrah and Grenache is a stupendous wine. It’s been auctioned before in 2009 and the wine has only benefitted from additional time in bottle. Ellis may describe himself as one of the “old farts” but there’s no doubt that he can show the youngsters a thing or two about respecting fruit and sympathetic oak maturation.

Saronsberg’s Dewaldt Heyns quipped that with his Die Erf Grenache 2010 he proves that he can make wine with an alcohol less than 15% and that it’s also possible for him to re-use barrels and not rely on brand-new oak! “These Grenache vines are only seven or eight years old and should start peaking from now onwards,” he said, expressing excitement and anticipation at forthcoming fruit off them.

Merlot has copped a lot of flak of late. Carl Schultz of Hartenberg showed the Loam Hill Merlot 2009 that defies criticism of the grape as being green, vegetal and unforgiving. The wine is rich, elegant and classic. Complex and refined with beautiful harmony between the fruit and oak, Schultz said fruit had come off Hartenberg’s first high-density vineyards planted with a new Merlot clone.

Other wines really impressed, notably those from first-timers Rianie Strydom of Haskell Vineyards who has The Expatriate 2009 (a Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz blend), and that of Johan Joubert of Kleine Zalze who put up a deliciously drinkable Cabernet Sauvignon, Granite Selection 2009. Marc Kent is always good value and told a tale of how Boekenhoutskloof came by the Porseleinberg fruit from the Swartland which is in his Syrah Auction Reserve 2009.

The CWG tasting would not be the event it is without some humour. Speaking about the grapes which had gone into the Jordan Chardonnay Auction Reserve 2010 as being well hung and perfectly matured, Gary Jordan’s quip was that he realised this “refers to at least half of the room present today”…

(For a full list of auction wines and more details about the CWG Auction, visit www.capewinemakersguild.com )

Recently South Africa’s tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced that tourism arrivals grew to eight million in the past year. During a parliamentary media briefing he said that was one million more tourists than in the preceding year. A full one third – or 309 000 – of those tourists were here for the 2010 Soccer World Cup – and the economic impact of their spend was in the region of R3.6 billion alone.

Much of that was spent on accommodation and food and while detractors stated that it was a pity South Africa was hosting the tournament in winter – traditionally cold and wet in the Cape and just plain icy everywhere else barring coastal KwaZulu-Natal – it appears that visitors were undaunted by the timing.

Had they come again this year they would have been forgiven for wondering what all the fuss over cold winter was about. The Western Cape’s winegrowing area has had a sustained period of positively balmy weather! But daytime temperatures in the mid-20′s is already having an effect on the vines with the notorious ‘green flags’ (early leaves) beginning to make their appearance.

Brows are also beginning to furrow at the lack of rainfall and cold in places. At the release of Dombeya’s new vintage wines in July, assistant winemaker and vineyard manager Wicus Pretorius said their Helderberg property had had less than half of its average winter rainfall. Dams in and around Stellenbosch and Paarl are less than half full. Not only has there not been enough rain to fill dams to provide irrigation to get the vines through the hot summer in 2012, but the groundwater stocks are not yet close to being replenished.

“But it’s the lack of cold that really has me worried,” said Pretorius. “It’s been way too warm and guys are beginning to talk about the vines starting to bud.” Proper dormancy is an essential part of the vine’s annual growth cycle – and extended periods of cold weather are necessary for the vine to shut down. His sentiments were echoed by Edgbaston’s David Finlayson who said only 5mm of rain had fallen on his property. “Our average July rainfall is 200mm.” Finlayson is of the opinion that South Africa’s winelands are heading into a periodic dryer cycle.

The whales have made their seasonal migration to Walker Bay and mating season is in full swing. Walker Bay winemaker Kevin Grant of Ataraxia said green flags had begun making their appearance in the area as well. “Now it’s a rush to get pruning done in time – but we definitely need more rain and cold. Rainfall has been below par to date and our dams are rather empty testimony to that.” However Grant said he was optimistic that more rain would fall in the next two months.

Conversely Danie de Wet of De Wetshof in Robertson was upbeat. “I’ve just analysed the most recent data on cold units with viticulturists Phil Freese and Francois Viljoen – and it’s been our second coldest winter in the past decade.” In an average winter Robertson experiences light ground frost roughly 15 to 20 times. “We’re only halfway through winter and already we’ve had frost more than 30 times.” Regarding rainfall he said that while the area looked good in terms of cover crop and vegetation precipitation had been sporadic.

“The main thing I’ve noticed is that our rain is coming from a different area. Usually it’s from the north – but much of the rain we’ve had to date has come from south-easterly frontal systems and low pressure systems over the interior. It’s been unusual and different but it’s good for the vines nonetheless.”

However it’s a very different story in the Swartland. Andrea Mullineux of Mullineux Family wines said it has not only been a dry winter to date in their neck of the woods “but we had an extremely dry summer – so there’s little or no reserve. Farmers are extremely nervous…”

Ever the optimist, Mullineux said they were hopeful that good rains would still fall in the second half of the season. “Last year we had very late rains too. There were some quite heavy falls in May and then nothing until much later. We’re hoping for a repeat of that…”.

But some South African regions are not alone in being at the mercy of warmer weather than usual. At Vinexpo much of the casual conversation among French winemakers revolved around the dry summer. Their rainfall has been dramatically reduced this year with dams running dry and river flows decreased as well. Forecasters have stated that harvest will be between two and three weeks earlier than usual.