LIQUID INVESTMENTS
MICHAEL FRIDJHON: Spier’s superb wines break through regional caricatures
Much has been made of the great divide (socioeconomic rather than merely geographical) separating the major South African cities. Someone once explained it to me as follows: in Johannesburg, they want to know how much money you have; in Durban, they want to know how you made it; in Cape Town, they want to know how long you’ve had it. When it comes to patterns of wine consumption, there are equally marked differences. Branded premium wines consumed in the Western Cape are sold in steakhouses and family restaurants, rather than those servicing the high-end tourist market. At establishments where wine waiters are called sommeliers, only the most niche products feature on the wine lists. These same low-volume craft cuvées are exactly the ones that enjoy the bulk of the coverage in the online wine publications, the majority of whose subscribers and readers reside in the Western Cape.You’ll find very few of these wines in the KwaZulu-Natal market, where the trade is altogether more mainst...
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