I don’t know if it was my conscience that was pricked or my subconscious that kicked in, but either way omitting South Africa from my 2013 crystal ball was an oversight. After my last trip in the summer as a judge at the Old Mutual Wine Trophy Show, I found much to admire in the way Cape producers have gone about addressing deep-seated vineyard problems and a tendency to uniformity of style.

No longer dominated by reds, Bordeaux-styles in particular, the Cape is rapidly transforming itself into a more varied and interesting palette of wine styles. I’ve always thought someone must be smoking the fynbos to come up with as glib a slogan as ‘variety is in our nature’, but on the evidence of the past year, the variety is not just grape variety, but the many locations with potential beyond the Golden Triangle of Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschoek.

Swartland is the new rallying cry. Maybe it’s because vineyards here are cheaper but younger winemakers with talent and passion are pushing the envelope with red and white blends in the mould of the Rhône. The 2009 Mullineux Syrah Swartland, around £17.95, Berry Bros (08002802440), Handford (0207589 6113), Swig (08000272272) is a case in point, showing wonderful purity of blackberry fruit intermingled with smoky tar and black pepper and great succulence.

The warm Malmesbury district too is coming up with some really good value reds like the paprika-smoky, black-fruited 2011 Porcupine Ridge Syrah Viognier, £8.84, Majestic. And let’s not overlook great emerging pinot noir such as the excellent red berry fruits fragrance, spice and purity of the 2010 Chamonix Reserve Pinot Noir, around £15.48 -16.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants (0122 356 8993), Lay & Wheeler (0147 331 3300), Berry Bros.

Thanks to the anomalous legacy of chenin blanc, the Cape was perhaps better known at home for whites than reds, but that image too is today under reconstruction. Certainly there are some wonderful chenins around, few more so than the mouthwateringly rich and creamy, citrus-laden 2011 Waterkloof Circle of Life White, around £16.99, The Sampler (02072269500), Handford Wines, Amps Fine Wines (01832 273502), Woodwinters (01786834894).

But new Rhône–style whites such as the 2010 Bellingham The Bernard Series Roussanne, £9.99 - £11.39, Sainsbury’s, SA Wines Online (0 8454562365) and the oak-smoked 2009 Thelema Viognier Roussanne, £12.50, Great Western Wines, show that there’s life beyond sauvignon blanc and chardonnay.

Speaking of which, Vergelegen’s wonderful 2010 GVB, £20.45, www.slurp.co.uk, SA Wines Online, a Graves style blend of sauvignon and semillion and Rustenberg’s richly burgundian Five Soldiers Chardonnay, £27.75 - £29.95, Lea & Sandeman (02072440522), Great Grog (01315550222), Swig, virginwines.com, Wine Society, illustrate that there’s plenty of life left in the traditional styles. And I haven’t even started on the fizz yet.

Something For The Weekend

Something for the Weekend

Night In

2010 Tesco Finest* Saint-Mont, Plaimont

No harm repeating that this South West French blend of the local Gros Manseng, Petit Courbu and Arrufiac with its aromatic, intense mouthful of tropical fruit zest is great value even at the list price, £5.49, down from £6.99, Tesco.

Dinner Party

2010 The Hedonist Shiraz, McLaren Vale, South Australia

Made from biodynamically grown grapes, this smoky Aussie powerhouse red from Walter Clappis in Willunga, has a sweetly concentrated, opulent blackberry fruit flavour with oak spice and chocolatey undertones and bright, refreshingly balanced acidity. £12.99, Waitrose.

Splash Out

2009 Château Boutisse, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux

Wonderfully juicy with a cassis-like richness and notes of liquorice and bittersweet chocolate, this youthful, fragrant modern Right Bank Bordeaux blend uses predominantly merlot for succulence with a stiffening backbone of cabernet sauvignon and franc. £25, Marks & Spencer.