Day 27 — Best value wines under R120 (my go-to buys)

SAWineLockdown Apr 22, 2020

27 Days into the South African lockdown and the end is nigh (8 days and counting).

Today’s theme for the #SAWineLockdown is Best value wines under R120. Which makes it both one of the easiest and one of the hardest topics for me. Easiest? I tend to spend around R120 for a bottle of red wine, and often times not more than R100 for a bottle of white or rosé wine to fill up my everyday wine collection.
Hardest? In South Africa we are fortunate to have a wide range of excellent wines available at lower price points. Which means that we are spoilt for choice.

So, what do I look for when I buy my everyday wines? How do I decide what I will keep on my day-to-day wine list and which wines I will avoid at all cost?

A lot of my wine choices are based on the situation. Where am I buying wine from? How much effort am I going to put into sourcing my wine? When am I buying wine and also why am I buying wine.

I often buy wine from the wineries when I go for tastings or when I feel like stopping by one on my way past. At other times I simply pick up a bottle or two while at the grocery store or I drive by a wine shop in town while running other errands.

When deciding which wine to buy, I would recommend starting with the better-known producers as they tend to be able to produce higher-quality, high-volume wines resulting in a lower price.

Okay, before I bore you with some more why’s and when’s, let me tell you which wines I think are good value for money buys.

White wines

Something you should remember when you are out shopping for lower priced white wines is that these will more often than not be wines that have not been fermented or aged in oak. You might be lucky to come across an oaked Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc, but will probably end up with Sauvignon Blanc, a white blend or unoaked Chenin Blanc or Chardonnay.

My top 5 go-to white wines are:

Blaauwklippen Sauvignon Blanc
De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay
Fairview Verdelho
Hartenberg Doorkeeper Sauvignon Blanc
Simonsig Chenin Blanc

Rosé wines

I really love having a chilled glass of crisp, dry rosé and can highly recommend the following 5 wines for you to try:

Beyerskloof Pinotage Dry Rosé
Durbanville Hills Merlot Rosé
Fairview Rose Quartz
Kanonkop Kadette Rosé
Pierre Jourdan Tranquille

Red wines

I love red wine (I’m sure you can tell when reading earlier articles), and definitely have a couple of solid favourites that are (usually) always around…