BBR has South African soft spot

Berry Bros & Rudd has said that the price to quality ratio available from South African wines has improved dramatically in recent years, making the category a more attractive proposition.

Despite the strength of the rand against the pound, dramatic improvements in winemaking have made South African wines one of the best-value categories, according to the merchant’s buying director, Alun Griffiths MW.

“The rand has firmed against the pound so there is not a noticeable benefit compared to Australia or New Zealand,” he said.

Griffiths told the drink business that he wanted to reflect the growing trend for its “fine blends” and individual vineyard sites, adding: “What I believe has happened, though, is a general improvement in quality, partly through a new generation of more enlightened winemakers and partly through use of better clones.”

Smaller allocations from BBR’s nominal South African producer also made Griffiths consider expanding the category.

“We were relying too much on Waterford, which is very high quality and is our agency line,” but he added that “in some cases [there was] shortage of stock at the winery because global demand and short harvests were limiting our allocations. So I needed to find some more suppliers.

“Vineyard areas being identified for their individuality, such as Elgin, Swartland and Wellington, have come to the fore, but the improvement is not just regionally driven, it’s a general upward quality shift even in established areas like Constantia and Stellenbosch,” he added.

The belief in South Africa has generated promotional activity for the country with BBR this autumn and winter, an activity which has been designed to showcase the growing quality and variety coming from the country.

For all the latest news on South Africa, pick up a copy of the drinks business’ forthcoming South Africa handbook.

Rupert Millar, 11.10.2010