Politically correct wines worth drinking

When the editor of this special suggested I might try some wine for him (did he need to ask twice? No!) it’s fair to say that New World wines weren’t my first pick. ‘How about Eastern Europe?’ I said, with an eye to Macedonia. Or failing that, Germany? It’s far too long since I’ve tasted Frankenwein and you can’t get the best stuff here for love nor money. I was perfectly game for English wine. But nope. Everyone else had got the Old World stuff first; it was the New World for me, and I am one who feels subconsciously that things have been going downhill since 1492.

Private Cellar, who supplied my case, were keen I should try a couple of South African growers. This brought a different set of preoccupations into play. For middle-class wouldbegoods like me, South African wine comes into the category of philanthropic consumption. You dutifully buy a bottle not merely with pleasure in mind but with an eye to the economic interests of the workers.