Miguel Chan Wine Journal and etiquette and the way forward

The idea of my Wine Journal was born 2007, when at a time I have noticed there was a growing request from hotel guests I have served a memorable bottle of South African wines and also from my colleagues Sommeliers around the world.

I soon realise I was sending hundred’s of the same mail with my tasting notes and recommendation, and was getting time consuming.

The Sommeliers friends wanted to be accurately informed about South African wines, especially when it comes to listing in a fine dining environment, with food in mind as pairings.

By the way, thank you all for your support and ideas, keep reading my blog, I am trying my best, of my limited time, to keep posting new discoveries and ratings.

From the hotel guests, the majority are them are avid collectors of fine Bordeaux and Burgundy, as well as other benchmark wines of the world, with home cellars in excess of over 600 bottles on average. They wanted something new, and comparable to their preferences, and yes this is no such things as 2 same wines from 2 distinct regions, albeit 2 different countries, but simulation in style is a reality.

We have developed over the years a very strong relationship, cemented by wine discussion and exchange of a few great bottles, they wanted to be kept updated about what I was tasting and what was new, and by the same token, seek South African wines they can cellar, for short to medium term, as well as corporate enjoyment.

Too many times they have been disappointed by choosing the wrong bottle / vintage of a particular South African wines, of labels / brands they recognised, or had before.

Hence the start of my wine journal and ratings, to give indications to Sommeliers, Restaurateurs, Hoteliers, private collectors, as well as we should not forget the burgeoning everyday wine drinker worldwide, where to find the top South African wines of a region, district or ward and which wines are not recommendable.

I will where possible, within reasonable execution describe every single wine relevant to it’s ratings and to give a suggested overall quality and drinking potential.

My ratings is to be as objective as possible using the 100 point scoring system, both blind and sighted, which I firmly believe give more justice and clarity to a wine destiny, it is my aim to rate wines according to their quality, irrespective of the bottle, label presentation or producers reputation and not to my personal taste.

I do however respect other means of scoring system such as the 20 points.

I consider myself to be very open-minded regarding different wine styles and will always include both positive and negative ratings on my blog, as at the end of the day, we all need to be kept informed, of what we are buying to enjoy and sharing with our friends and preconceived ideas due to miscommunication or short sightedness should not apply to wine enjoyment and education.

Wine being a product of nature, should reflect it’s vagaries, as well as the site and passion of the winemaker, homogenisation or aggressive branding should best be left for Fast Moving Consumer Goods, and not to wine as it does not contribute to the education of wine in general.

South African society of wine drinkers is extremely conservative, unlike e.g the Australian who experiments a lot, when it comes to new varietal or style.

Boring brands tends to dominate the purchase decision either in supermarket or eating out, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, especially the emerging middle class as well as the best wine buyers of the country, resident of Gauteng, they are adventurous, money is not an object, they trust sommeliers, and want to be educated and drink quality, they are my favourites.

The media and freelance wine writers tend to publish only their top scores or personal selection and the winners, but most of the time never talk or write about the bottom scorers, and why they are at the bottom and stays at the bottom year on year (e,g far too much high yields, resulting in simple wine with no character..) most hesitate to disgrace producers with lower quality, could it be because these are some of the most interesting advertisement or sponsoring partners ?

This distort the reality, South Africa being a very young wine making country, with only 15 years of international experience, and the world is thirsty to understand the beautiful wines, in it’s integrity, as well as visiting the breathtaking scenery of the Cape Wine lands and go an experience the right tasting venue.

Of the 600 or so wineries of the Cape, roughly 35% are quality driven, with good consistency(based on personal tasting experience, since 1996) and are striving hard everyday to make a difference and improve their wines year on year, and actively engaged with the consumer, locally and overseas and furthering the cause of understanding., promoting and creating awareness about South African wines.

The remaining 65% what are they doing? The consumer can only be fooled for a certain amount of time! and sooner or later they will realise.

The top 35 %, if I may call it that way are not watching or spying what their neighbours are doing, but experimenting and trying to make compelling wines, their worries and fears are not local, and their wines shows that it can rubbed shoulders with the world’s best, and my quest is to highlights the high and low’s, for you top make smart buying decision, either personal or business.

Should anybody put pressure on my person because of low scores, I will immediately report it on the blog, as consumers and buyers deserve the truth, as wine enjoyment and education should not be hampered by bottomless marketing budget.