As one of the top ten wine-producing countries in the world, it’s surprising how little we talk about South Africa. Is it because we are so far away? Probably not; we Canadians drink wine from places much farther away. Is it because we only think of South Africa as making coffee-flavoured, Pinotage-based wines? That is a possibility as that seems to be the majority of what makes headlines on our shores. Or is it because we think of it as strictly a hot climate region that does not fit in with our shifting tastes from winter (red) to summer (white)? Well, today we’re going to rectify that situation as we take a look at some of the wines you probably think about least if and when you think about South African wines: white wines.
I’m sure we all occasionally think about South Africa, but not as much as we do other countries that export wine to our shores. But would you believe that South Africa ranks seventh out of all wine-producing countries, and that it contributes 3.9 percent of the world’s wine? That said, I am sure we think more about the wines from Chile, Argentina and Germany (who rank eight, ninth and tenth worldwide). So, it’s amazing to me that we don’t a) see much more wine from South Africa, and B) talk about South Africa more often.