Nelson Mandela holds UK broadsheet the Observer responsible for saving him from the gallows at the Rivonia treason trial. Editor David Astor turned the spotlight of publicity on those grubby proceedings in Pretoria in the days before CNN and Sky News, which undoubtedly contributed to a humane result. After 27 years in jail, Nelson repaid the favour and saved SA. In particular, his release from prison and the first democratic elections, boosted SA wine exports, previously hamstrung by boycotts and economic embargoes.

Nelson Mandela

So how ironic that the wine pundit for the Observer is now a major threat to SA wine exports. Tim Atkin launched a new Crusade Opposing Carbon Unfriendly Packaging (COCUP) on Sunday. “It is mainly, but not exclusively, a Latin thing: the major culprits are Spain, Italy and Argentina, where anyone who makes an icon wine seems to come over all macho and purchase the thickest glass available. In an effort to arrest this runaway trend, I’ve taken the decision not to recommend anything on these pages that comes in a heavyweight bottle.”

But that’s only for starters. He also beats a xenophobic drum, advising readers to “support the UK’s 416 wineries (who don’t have to ship their wines as far)” or to “switch to wines packaged in bag-in-box, plastic, Tetra Pak or lightweight glass.” Although his threat to get tough (“I will not hesitate to name and shame”) falls a little flat when he keeps the identity of “the three red wines that are sitting on my desk… they weigh more than a lot of dumb-bells”, secret. Perhaps they tasted nice.

Those wishing something more than thin and weedy patriotism in their glass are offered “another possibility… to buy wines that are shipped to the UK in bulk, something which is favoured by many large New World producers, especially those that supply cut-price own-label wines to supermarkets. There’s an element of self-interest here – it keeps costs down – but there’s no denying the environmental benefits, too. Waitrose, which is leading the way in ‘feel-good wines’, has even introduced its own Virtue line, which is shipped in flexitanks and packaged in lightweight bottles made from 60% recycled glass. I just wish they tasted a little better…”

WOSA (Wines of SA, the exporters’ association) have long argued that SA needs to break out of the cheap-and-cheerful but far from lucrative bottom shelf in the UK supermarket. They have long argued against the export of SA wine in bulk and are desperate to find an icon, a champion behind which SA exports can rally. Expensive wines typically come in expensive bottles – it’s an image thing – and the Atkin fatwa, if it catches on, could have devastating commercial consequences. Could you imagine Mr. Toad from Tollytown buying Meerlust Rubicon in a papsak or Thelema in a Tetra Pak? Me neither.

A further point is made by WOSA spokesman André Morgenthal: “we have fiercely opposed the move to in-country bottling on the basis that it is immoral for retailers to export jobs to EU bottling plants when we need desperately to create jobs in SA.”

Tim has a habit of stirring the lees. His last contribution to the SA wine debate was detecting a “burnt rubber” character in SA reds which resulted in a witch hunt that is still bubbling under in unenlightened and backward corners of the industry. Give this man the legion d’honneur, toute de suite!

Reclusive winemaker Pieter de Waal writes that he weighed the empty bottles lying discarded around his hermitage. What surprises (apart from the observation that the vow of poverty clearly no longer applies to hermits) is the variability of his measurements:

Chemin Moscou Vin de Pays d’Oc 2006 – 820g (from France).
Cape Point Sauvignon Blanc 2008 – 770g.
Groot Constantia Shiraz 1974 – 620g.
Hermitage La Chapelle 1982 – 600g (from France).
Hermit on the Hill Syrah 2007 – 570g.
Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 1988 – 480g.
Hermitage La Chapelle 1999 – 480g (from France).
Warwick Femme Bleue 1993 CWG – 470g.

Pieter gets a Papal Dispensation for the 570g of his own Hermit on the Hill Syrah as it is packaged in “renewed bottles, i.e. not recycled but bottles collected from wineries, restaurants, individuals and then cleaned and sterilized.” Will Mr. Atkin make an exception in this case?

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