There was never much doubt that the US’s Maga hero would fulfil his threat to whack SA with sanctions dressed up as tariffs. If nothing else he needed to disprove the veracity of the acronym by which he’s come to be known: Taco (Trump Always Chickens Out), and SA was the easiest target. Some of his demands involved a challenge to sovereignty; others a change in the way the ANC does business. It was always going to go bad.
For some industries (and the communities that survive through employment in them) the consequences will be catastrophic. How can the Eastern Cape’s car industry instantly find new markets for the left-hand-drive cars it’s been supplying the US with for years? (And how can this decision suddenly bring car manufacturing back to the US?) Other sectors affected by tariffs may be able to pivot, depending on how perishable their products are.
The wine industry is relatively lucky — not because it’s inured (it isn’t) but because except for the cash flow implications, there’s no immediate pressure to clear the stock previously destined for the US. As it happens, on the weekend that the US tariff threat materialised, I was at Standard Bank WineX in Mpumalanga — a consumer-based wine show with a long history in Mbombela (Nelspruit). Until Covid-19 changed the face of tourism in the province, it was the probably the most energetic and high-spirited of the country’s regional wine events.
It took till last year before the Cape’s producers were again ready to make the great trek north and east to engage with the Mpumalanga market. When they did, they discovered how much had changed: the old community of wine drinkers was still there, but in fewer numbers while the newcomers were still too tentative. Who would have guessed that a wine market could be so fragile?
A year down the line the change was palpable. Attendance was better, the audience hungry for wine knowledge: a frontier has clearly been crossed. The show is not the jamboree it used to be, but rather more of an engagement, where the questions are less about how long the wine has been aged in wood and more about what to expect from the different varieties.
This suggests that the loss of some of the US market volumes can be recovered closer to home, a process that began several years ago in Gauteng and is now evident in the more decentralised sectors of the economy. And it isn’t limited to the national borders: the new growth markets are in East and West Africa. Selling will require a different mindset, and perhaps more black-owned brands, some of which were present in Mbombela.
Of the 200 or so different wines at the show, I sampled several worth sharing: in the fizz category the Dewetshof and the Klein Constantia blanc de blancs, Quoin Rock’s Festive Series, and Pierre Jourdan’s Silk Nectar (which wasn’t sweet, and offered great texture and aroma) and some finely crafted rosés: Manley’s grenache 2025, De Wetshof Lilya cabernet Franc and Three Quarters Lereol 2025.
I came across several impressive chardonnays, Aslina’s 2023, De Wetshof’s Finesse 2024, Glen Carlou’s 2024, Meerlust’s 2023, Quoin Rock’s Black Series 2021, Rupert & Rothschild’s Baroness Nadine 2024, Le Bonheur’s 2022 and the Kruger Family reserve 2021. Among the sauvignons, the Klein Constantia 2024 and the Metis 2020 were the most striking.
I also found some very good chenins — L'Avenir Single Block 2022, Rockbelt Ridge Black Korhaan 2025 and Knorhoek 2022, as well as a wonderful 2024 Jamala Gewürztraminer from Simonsig and a finely crafted 2025 viognier from Manley.
Among the reds, my discoveries included the Kruger Family’s reserve cabernet 2021, Adama’s HER pinotage 2024, Meerlust’s Rubicon 2022, Lomond’s syrah 2022 and merlot 2021, Diemersfontein’s 2023 pinotage, Quoin Rock’s Simonsberg blend, Guardian Peak’s 2023 merlot, Le Bonheur’s petit verdot reserve 2021 and the delicious Three Quarter’s syrah 2023 — made by a former Cape Winemakers’ Guild Protegée, Mahalia Kotjane, at the Karibib cellar in Stellenbosch.
• Fridjhon is show director of WineX
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