If you know a more catchy slogan than ‘variety is in our nature’, you should be in wine marketing. This is the soundbite parading the wines of South Africa (http://www.varietyisinournature.com/) as a reflection of the country’s ‘unique biodiversity’. By convincingly linking the Cape’s floral kingdom to its diverse soils and climates, it cheekily borrows the mantle of terroir from the French, who coined wine’s currently most overused term in the first place. But do thousands of plant species combine with ancient soils, ocean breezes and rugged landscapes to make wine ‘of character and quality’?

Possibly, but not without a helping hand. The reality is that the influence of terroir in wine is as much the result of human endeavour as outside influence. As a recent tweet made clear: ‘terroir cannot exist without human beings to discover it, express it, and in the end, to appreciate it’. In the case of the Cape, those individuals best able to interpret their vineyards’ potential are making the best wines. But as with any generic marketing set-up, to trumpet the virtues of variety and quality is a convenient way of avoiding biting the hand that feeds it.

If this all sounds somewhat curmudgeonly, the variety issue was put to the test at a tasting of a range of Cape wines in the fabulously anachronistic library of the South African High Commission in London last month. Leaving aside for one moment the fact that a number of the Cape’s top names were absent for reasons best known to the organizers, there was plenty there to wet the press’s snout .

Sauvignon blanc showed that it’s gone from great white hope to great white reality. Andrew Gunn’s pungently herbal and mouthwateringly crisp 2010 Iona Sauvignon Blanc, £9.99, Waitrose, Majestic (buying 2) stood out, along with the consistent, nettle-fresh, green peppery 2010 Springfield Life from Stone, £8.95, The Wine Society, a pristine, almost sancerre-like 2010 Ataraxia Sauvignon Blanc, £10.75 - £11.95, Stone, Vine & Sun (01962 712351), Jeroboams shops, and juicily refreshing, gooseberryish 2010 Crow’s Fountain Traditional Bush Vine Sauvignon Blanc, £9.99, buy 6 = £7.49, Marks & Spencer.

Chenin blanc remains a Cape trump card and while Bruwer Raats is among the best exponents with his fragrantly exotic 2010 Raats Original Chenin Blanc, around £9.49, Handford (02075896113), Vinology (01789264586), Bellingham’s 2010 The Bernard Series, £9.99, Majestic is impressively opulent with its honeyed appley flavours, while Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Fairtrade Chenin Blanc, £7.99, tingles with refreshingly peachy fruit. Chardonnay put its best foot forward with an elegantly butterscotchy, burgundian-style 2009 Delaire Chardonnay, £73, 6-bottle case, Justerini & Brooks (02074846400) and the exciting new-wave Rhône-style blends from Swartland in the complex, stonefruit and apple qualities of the 2009 Mullineux White Blend, £15.95, Berry Bros & Rudd (08002802440).

There isn’t enough space this week to explore the reds in depth, but it would be fair to say that with a combination of Bordeaux blends, Rhône-styles syrahs, emerging pinot noirs, and, er, pinotages, they too are looking more exciting then ever. Examples worthy of note included a modern Cape claret-like red in the 2008 Vergelegen Premium Cabernet Merlot, £10.39 - £10.99, Morrisons, Majestic (buy 2 = £8.79), a convincingly Rhône-like spicy and succulently dark-fruited 2007 Newton Johnson Syrah Mourvèdre, £13.49 - £14.29, slurp.co.uk, Wholefoods, sawinesonline, and a stylish Cape-meets-Pauillac 2007 Grand Vin de Glenelly, £16.75, Jeroboams. Variety in South Africa’s nature? Maybe there is something in it after all.

Something for The Weekend 11 April 2011

Under £6

2009 Undurraga Aliwen Sauvignon Blanc

With its herbal green undertones of pepper and green bean, this Chilean sauvignon blanc is refreshingly gooseberryish with a cleansing zesty dry aftertaste. £5.16 - £5.99, World Wines 4 U, Wilts. ((0)174 783 0030), Bray Valley Wines, Devon (01769 575946).

Under a Tenner

2007 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Priorat

A powerful blend of carignan and grenache from the Catalonian hills, this opulent, chocolatey red combines sweet dark berry and plum fruit with firm grippy tannins and an attractive freshness. £7.49, down from £9.99, until 26 April, Sainsbury’s.

Splash Out

2006 Amaren Graciano. Rioja

Unusually made from pure graciano, this is an exceptional rioja, intensely perfumed and peppery with fleshy dark cherry fruit and polished vanilla undertones held together by firm backbone. £38.99, Noel Young Wines (01223 844744), Oxford Wine (01865 301144), Imbibros (01483 861164).

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