South Africa's Pinot Noir: a cult grape that defies logic and economics

Any winemaker will tell you that not all varieties are created equal. In terms of marketing, some guarantee a higher price, practically regardless of supply, winemaking potential, or the condition of the grapes in the crates. The most spectacular Crouchen Blanc grapes fetch less per ton on the open market than Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon sells better than Pinotage, and Chenin Blanc better than Hanepoot (excluding the most discerning winemakers seeking to differentiate themselves).

This almost absolute truth is largely due to the price at the point of sale. Excluding the achievements of star winemakers, who fetch over 1,000 rand per bottle with wines made from Palomino, Clairette, or Colombard grapes, the price of the grape is determined by what consumers are willing to pay upon seeing the variety name on the label.

One might think that, with the grape economy so prominent, winegrowers would modify their plantings to optimize their income: "they plant after the price drops," as the old-timers used to say. Of course, it's not always easy, because the climate and soil can be unsuitable, forcing them to settle for what grows well in the area.

It's not an immutable rule. There are hundreds of hectares of Sauvignon Blanc, a cool-climate variety, in warm regions. Even more surprising is the existence of equally vast expanses of Pinot Noir, a more heat-sensitive variety, in places that can hardly be considered cold. Nearly 400 hectares are planted in Paarl and Stellenbosch, compared to just 359 along the entire southern Cape coast (which includes Elgin and the Hemel-en-Aarde valley). There are over 300 hectares in Robertson, Worcester, and Breedekloof.

The Cap Classique industry is booming and needs large volumes of Pinot Noir for its base wine, which doesn't necessarily have to come from low-yielding vineyards with potential for Burgundy-like wines. For buyers of this fruit, yield always outweighs potential quality. Pinot Noir destined for sparkling wines doesn't fetch the same price as that destined for a quality red. Even so, all things being equal, Pinot Noir bottled as Pinot Noir sells, on average, for a higher price than any other red variety from South Africa. This has been the case ever since the late Tim Hamilton Russell popularized its rarity and the difficulty of making good wine from the "heartbreak grape."

If it were so difficult to produce a good Pinot Noir year after year, and so susceptible to the weather, one would expect bottled wine prices to fluctuate with the vintage: soaring in good years and plummeting in bad ones. When consumers are swept away by euphoria, as has happened in South Africa since the first Pinot Noir plantings in the modern era of the industry, there is no rational relationship with reality, but rather blind faith. South African Pinot Noir is a cult wine in the truest sense. Those who believe in it are the faithful; the producers and their marketing teams, the high priests; and those who buy it, year after year, at ever-increasing prices, the acolytes traversing the steep and thorny path to wine paradise.