Twenty years of visiting South Africa
By Jamie Goode | 11th August 2023
It’s slightly shocking to realize that 2003 is now 20 years ago. And it was in February 2003, just over 20 years ago, that I first visited South Africa. So I thought it would be interesting to look back at that first visit and consider how things have changed since then, in the perspective of dozens of visits since, including three last year alone.
Some context. This wasn’t a wine trip; it was a family holiday; but I’d already been bitten by the wine bug and was beginning to make a little money moonlighting as a wine writer. I was 35 years old and three years previously, Fiona and I had adopted two boys, brothers from a difficult background in the northeast of England. We thought it was time for them to see something a bit different.
I was working as a science editor at the time, producing books from high-level meetings, and writing my wineanorak.com website and blog in my spare time. The internet was becoming increasingly important, which worked in my favour, and this was helpful in researching the trip. I was still a tiny bit apprehensive, though: people kept warning us of how dangerous South Africa was, and while I thought a lot of this was scaremongering, it lurked at the back of my mind. The boys were then 5 and 6, so part of planning was making sure there were enough fun things to keep them occupied. Clearly, though, I wasn’t going to go to the Cape and not visit lots of wineries.
First stop was Constantia, where we stayed in some simple but charming self-catering accommodation. This proved to be a good start, because it’s a beautiful place to stay, and it’s in easy striking distance of lots of fun (as well as a proper wine route). I managed to put some winery visits on the agenda, and the wineries in Constantia were well set up for wine tourism. I stopped off at Buitenverwachting, Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia, Constantia Uitsig and Steenberg, and my notes are still there on my website. I should add that through this trip, with one exception, I was simply visiting as any tourist would by popping into the cellar door. I wasn’t at this stage well established enough that I felt I’d merit a professional visit, and besides I had to work around the family. For some of the visits we all went together; for others I went alone; and then for some others I took the boys, leaving Fiona with some time to herself. All the wineries proved good at welcoming guests, and even entertaining the kids – letting them taste grape juice was one solution offered!
From my journal at the time: “It's my second evening in South Africa, and so far it has been great fun. I even got my first bit of winery visiting in today, at Buitenverwatching and Klein Constantia – where we are staying is handily placed on the Constantia wine route. Respectable lunch today at Peddlars. We have a babysitter tonight so we are trying out Steenberg (another wine estate), next door to where we are staying. Because of the cricket world cup, Constantia Uitsig, our first choice, doesn't have a table spare until next week.”
We found lots of fun things to do. The first clear day, we took the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, with its spectacular views from the top. Then we swam with the Jackass penguins at Boulders Beach. And one of the best excursions was the to Cape Point, through the national park: windswept, remote and spectacularly beautiful. The baboons were a bit unnerving: we didn’t trust our boys to keep their distance, which is something highly recommended when it comes to baboons. The boys enjoyed the Simonstown Scratch Patch, where they got to fill a bag with polished stones, and we enjoyed fish and chips with crisp white wine at Hout Bay, a working harbour. Close by was World of Birds, where the appeal for the boys was going into the squirrel monkey enclosure and letting the cute but curious little critters climb over them. Finally, we picknicked at Spier, with its cheetah sanctuary.
After this we left wine country to spend four days in Arnitson, a beautiful fishing village on the Indian Ocean, with a remote, undeveloped quality. There was just one shop and one restaurant, but a truly beautiful beach, and a great place to chill and eat very fresh fish. I bought along several bottles of decent white wine (Thelema Sauvignon, Glen Carlou Chardonnay, and assorted Constantia bottles), and the restaurant allowed corkage for just 10 Rand.
Then we headed back to Stellenbosch. The one professional visit there was with Mike Ratcliffe at Warwick (I remarked in the write up that Mike was just 30 then; he still looks the same today!). He put us up for the night and drove the boys around in his bakkie, which they loved. For the rest of the trip we stayed in self-catering accommodation in the Devon Valley, and I visited Hartenberg Estate, Thelema, Kaapzicht and Beyerskloof. Thelema is one visit I remember well: they were ‘the’ winery at the time and had sold out of everything, except their Riesling. Still, they allowed guests to taste the range, even if they couldn’t buy.
At the time, South Africa seemed very cheap, even though the Rand was stronger than it is now (in 2003 it was about R13 to the pound). Prices seemed half those in the UK. Wine seemed absurdly cheap. I noted at the time: “Wine is spectacularly cheap, even on restaurant wine lists. You can plunder even the best wine list without being worried about the cost. Winery cellar door prices are absurdly cheap.”
How have things changed in the last 20 years? The main thing to note is that the South African wine scene is now much more layered, diverse and complex – even though, then, I found a lot to like on my trip. South Africa is still cheap, but wines have got more expensive. They still represent good value, though, for the most part. The wineries that were famous in 2003 are still good, but have been overtaken by a lot of newcomers. There was a lot of fuss when the first wines costing over R100 were launched, but now it’s not completely rare to find top wines selling for R1000. But with the Rand at R24 to the pound, there are lots of serious wines on offer in the equivalent of the £10-20 range in South Africa, largely because the number of fine wines made in the Cape has grown tremendously. In terms of travel, since the pandemic the cost of flights to Cape Town has risen a bit, although these seem to be settling down: a search just now pulled up direct flights from London for under £900 return in mid-November, a great time to travel. I’m very tempted!