Sauvignon blanc and merlot rule the roost
There is a vast chasm separating the wines that occupy the minds (and sometimes the cellars) of wine geeks from the beverages consumed by the average wine drinker.
Those who obsess about the latest vintage or the most arcane blend are not exactly representative of the wine market as a whole. They may be remarkably knowledgeable when it comes to the antics of the garagiste winemakers, where they source their fruit, the age of their vineyards and the names of their pets. They may even buy some of their wines. However, in my experience while they are happy to come to the tastings and to enthuse about the latest releases on social media, purchase (especially at prices above R200 per bottle) is an alien experience.
On the other side of this great divide are the real punters: I’m not talking about the greatest-volume-at-the-lowestprice brigade. I’m thinking of people who drink wine regularly, go to the occasional wine show for the pleasure of being there (and to sample outside their comfort zone), and buy wine by the case as their beverage of choice.
They are the typical representatives of the domestic wine market: their preferences are statistically measurable, in terms of the brands that sell and the varieties that dominate the supermarket shelves.
So here’s the thing: the geeks may be looking for wines with “heritage” varieties such as colombard and cinsaut but the real action is happening around two cultivars that have become brands in their own right. For white wine drinkers, the number one choice is sauvignon blanc; for red wine drinkers, it’s merlot.
There are several theories as to why this should be so. If you distil and blend the common elements, you’ll find a few key features. The first is that in general the wines made from these varieties tend to be predictable.
The second is that if you happen to like their flavour profiles, there is very little to offend you. If you don’t like discernible acidity, you are never going to drink sauvignon blanc. But if you do, and you seek linearity and freshness from a white wine, you are not going to gravitate to the potential opulence of chenin or the caramel-marzipan notes of oaked chardonnay.
Neither of these varieties requires extensive ageing, and increasingly producers have become adept at vinifying them for immediate consumption. Mostly the wines do not get better with age. They certainly do not become more complex. They are like grocery items: readily available and safe to store in the larder.
I have looked through the wines I have tasted blind since the beginning of the year to see which were the highest-scoring sauvignons and merlots. It was not entirely surprising to discover that most stock in the trade is very young. This is to be expected for sauvignon blanc but the merlots were not significantly older — perhaps a year on average.
Second, the scores were largely in an upper mid-range: silver to solid silver medal.
Arguably, this might be because subconsciously I impose a glass ceiling, assuming when it comes to sauvignon blanc that the variety generally does not ordinarily have what it takes to score gold. The counterargument is that if a wine (or a style) is intrinsically incapable of delivering complexity what other outcome is to be expected?
As it turned out (and with more sauvignons tasted than merlots) the top-scoring sauvignons reached greater heights than the merlots. Leading the charge were
Cederberg (Ghost Corner 2022 93 points and the regular 2022 on 92 points); Diemersdal (Eight Rows 2022 at 92 points, Reserve 90 points); Springfield (Life from Stone 2022 and Special Cuvée 2022 both at 92 points).
They were followed by the highest-scoring merlot, the Shannon Mount Bullet 2019 on 91 points. Another dozen or so merlots and sauvignons squatted on 90. Good, solid and well-made, and selling vastly more than many 95-point bordeaux blends.