But retailers' mark-ups keep cheap imports at the door

SOUTH African wine exports were down 10-million litres year-on-year in the first quarter of 2011, thanks to a perfect storm of tired marketing directed at all the wrong places and a currency on steroids. But things would be far worse if the flip side of the exchange rate coin - cheap imports - were more of a factor.

That they're not is thanks partly to greedy importers and an observation made by British heavy lifter Hugh Johnson back in 1974 that "what SA has lacked in the development of her modern wine industry has been a body of discriminating drinkers"; in other words, punters prepared to pay for the subtle charms of Pomerol and the liqueur-like intensity of the Pimpala Road Shiraz 2008 made in South Australia by Geoff Merrill - just a stone's throw from the home of former South African émigré author JM Coetzee - who learnt his trade at Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery a generation ago.

At R129 a bottle, the Prospector Syrah 2008 from Jordan is really the only other Stellenbosch Shiraz that gives as much pleasure for this price. Merrill made his point late last year at Franschhoek producer La Motte, where his flagship Shiraz defeated all-comers from around the world in a great Shiraz showcase. Imported by Marita de Beer through her Great Grapes company, it was one of two dozen imports shown to Cape chefs and hoteliers, so stand by for more imports and more pain for local producers.

While SA has lost 12% of its wine export market so far this year, that figure is a terrifying 27% when it comes to bubbly - and if imported Champagne was more reasonably priced, the category would be flatter than last year's fizz.

To make matters worse, Air France-KLM recently hosted a bash to reward frequent flyers and announce the launch of a direct flight between Cape Town and Paris. Guest of honour was Daniel Lorson of the Wine of Champagne Committee (CIVC) , flown in by the airlines "to see for himself what SA and Africa can mean to the Champagne industry in terms of growth and expansion". Lorson said he was horrified at the price of Champagne in SA, adding: "SA needs more and more adventurous importers".

He went on to say he had been offered a glass of bubbly for R560 in a Johannesburg restaurant the previous night. "In France we advertise restaurants which mark up Champagne by not more than two times as Friends of Champagne so diners can visit them preferentially." A fantastic opportunity for Air France-KLM, I'd have thought, to sponsor a sticker for restaurant wine lists and front doors, to separate those serious about shampoo from mere rip-off artists.

As for the Salon Privé itself, my fizz of the evening was a Ruinart Blanc de Blanc, a choice I suspect Lorson agreed with, though he was much too diplomatic to say.

Read Pendock Uncorked at http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/pendock.