On the grapevine

Wine surplus on Cape: South African wine producers have had a tough time with almost prohibitionstyle controls during the pandemic, as well as a ban on exports and even a ban on local sales. The estimate is that there are 300 million litres of wine – that’s around 120 Olympic swimming pools full – in tanks across the Cape. There is another harvest ripening on the vines, for picking in February onwards, and those 2021 grapes need the space in the tanks, so there will have to be some rapid sales to prevent a crisis.

Undoubtedly there will be some bargains to be had, but don’t just buy South African wine because it is cheap – buy it because it is fabulously well made and flavoursome.

I will highlight the bargains as they become available.

Grape skin deep: If drinking the world’s most expensive sweet wine isn’t enough for your feeling of well-being, there is now a beauty elixir that makes use of the waste grape skins and the sap from the vine prunings at top Sauternes property Ch d’Yquem. Ch d’Yquem and beauty house Christian Dior are both owned by the luxury goods empire LVMH, so it was a short step from looking at the possibilities of using these special grapes for a beauty treatment and actually investigating the science. Apparently the noble rot that affects Ch d’Yquem grapes has properties that are beneficial to skin. And the sap of the vines, when captured at the right moment, also has wound repair and antioxidant properties. The 2019 vintage of L’Or de Vie, La Cure anti-aging serum costs around £1,900 for 3 x 30ml vials, which should last around six months.

Alternatively you can buy a half bottle of the wine and rub that in, and you will have enough left over to go with a pud or cheese. Costs around £300 per half bottle, depending on the vintage.