Cape Town - South African wines were worthy contenders that had entered the global market with a lack of pretentiousness and hypocrisy, Frank Prial, the wine correspondent for the New York Times, said yesterday.
Speaking as one of three panellists at the opening seminar of the Cape Wine 2004 exhibition, Prial noted, however, that local wine producers would have to work hard at marketing their wines in the US if they wanted to succeed in his home market, because New York wine lovers had 10 000 bottles to choose from.
The seminar, Of the Warm South, was convened by wine expert John Platter, the founder of the authoritative John Platter South African Wines.
The third panelist was French oenologist Michel Rolland, who consults to over 100 wineries in nine countries, including South Africa, Italy, Chile and Argentina.
Prial praised South African shiraz as good-quality wine and said it was representative of a new generation of shiraz in the country. Great care should be taken not to kill the varietal through mediocrity, he said.
Rolland said he was very happy with the tasting and found the quality and purity of the wine well done. All the wines were well balanced and clean.
Platter said that, in a "casual amble" through the Cape, he had seen a new confidence with the blending of wines and wine makers seemed convinced that there were certain varieties with a better "climate fit" they should be working with.
The experimentation and diversification in the industry was like the reshaping of a nation's wine persona and made South Africa one of the most exciting places to be, Platter said.
Cape Wine 2004, a four-day wine exhibition, is a biennial initiative of Wines of South Africa. It runs until Friday.