Off to a Port tasting at Graham’s in Vila Nova de Gaia this morning. “Just climb into a taxi and say ‘take me to Graham’s Port Lodge in Gaia’” said Raul. So of course we chose the only taxi driver in Porto who didn’t know where Graham’s was. The wines were super, with my rating of the Tawnies the 20 year old, followed by the 40 and then the 30yo. “Do you have an agent in South Africa?” Our tastemaster disappeared and reappeared with a file listing NMK Schulz, who went bang a couple of years ago. No wonder the SA selection of Graham’s products is less than optimal.

In its final stages of corporate existence, NMK was partly owned by KWV, a final act in a bizarre comedy of errors that saw KWV struggle to distribute its wines in SA. So how ironic then that a 1933 KWV Jerepigo scored 98/100 at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show recently – probably the highest scored wine ever by a competition which raises parsimony to ridiculous heights and then boasts about it.

But what a strange wine for KWV to enter into a competition and what a strange way to introduce it to the SA wine lovers with a couple of bottles opened at specified times at Old Mutual public tastings/bun fights. No wonder Jamie Goode, lavishly remunerated UK judge at the competing Top 100 St. James Wines Competition, asked whether the show owner was a paid consultant to KWV on Twitter.

Expect fireworks when Jamie and said show owner meet at the Swartland Revolution in November which was described by Adi Badenhorst’s PR cousin as “like Woodstock without the sex.” Maybe the Rolling Stones playing Altamont would be more appropriate.

The oldest wine in barrel at Graham’s is a 1935 and the prices of aged Ports rise exponentially. So perhaps it’s time for incoming KWV chairman Marcel Golding to order a stock take of the Cathedral Cellar and to commission a sensible sales strategy before the pearls in KWV’s crown are cast before swine at various Convention Centres.