No time for whining!

Liquidators are doing better than ever, so are those whose incomes flourish in the presence of widespread financial distress.

Still, they may not all be in the mood for making big statements at the moment: it’s considered poor taste to indulge in conspicuous consumption in the presence of your victims.

This is not a problem which is limited to SA – it afflicts such international centres as London where the Liv-Ex index of the world’s most sought-after wines has dropped dramatically in the past few months.

This doesn’t mean the proprietor of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is planning a fire sale: in a worst-case scenario he may have to make a little effort to sell his wine. This could turn out to be less hassle than the trouble he used to experience simply keeping supplicants for more stock (at more than R50 000 a bottle) from his door.

R70 AND BELOW

IT IS probable that the next year or two will see something of a backlash against the excesses of the recent past.

Looking like you don't spend money on anything as frivolous as wine will earn the silent approval of exactly the same people whose worship at the altar of Mammon egged you on to even greater extravagances pre-2008.

They'll admire your restraint when you serve the 2008 Ingwe Sauvignon Blanc or the 2008 Simonsig Chenin Blanc. The former comes from really old vines planted on a farm not far from Somerset West – en route to Sir Lowry's Village – and it's unshowy and very Loire-like. Though its initial austerity may bother you more than its R30 a bottle price at the cellar, it does have great purity of fruit.

For those with the now fashionable puritanical virtue of delaying gratification, it's a must-buy.

This is not to suggest that the equally inexpensive Simonsig Chenin Blanc 2008 – recently voted Superquaffer of the Year by the Platter Guide's judges – has no future.

The 2007 vintage won the same Platter accolade a year ago and is probably drinking better now than it did when it bagged the award.

There's a comparable debate around the best reds in this entry-point price bracket.

In the one corner, there's the KC Cabernet-Merlot which won the Discovery of the Show Trophy at this year's Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show.

It's a pretty smart wine, elegant, unflashy but beautifully woven together.

In the other corner is the 2006 Brampton Cabernet Sauvignon, sweet-fruited, a little less graphite-like than the trophy winning 2004, but sumptuous without being brash.

The difference between the two – a little like what separates the Ingwe from the Simonsig – resides in stylistic preference, and my compromise vote gives it to the laid- back Ingwe and the more upfront Brampton for wines at less than R70.

R70 – R140

MOVE up a bracket in price and there's so much good wine about it's almost impossible even to pretend to fairness with the short list.

White wine bargains abound – as Sauvignon Blanc producers, sensitive to suggestions that they let green fruit characters create the illusion of freshness, have dramatically improved their average quality.

Kumkani Lanners Hill, Mont Rochelle Reserve, La Vierge, Buitenverwachting, Springfield, Tokara, Thelema, Nederburg Auction, Steenberg, and Oak Valley are all worth tracking down.

When it comes to well-made Chardonnays there's an equally splendid choice: Jordan (the regular and the Nine Yards), Chamonix, Glen Carlou, Eikendal, Paul Cluver, Weltevrede, Tokara Walker Bay and Thelema all come to mind.

There are also an increasing number of smart white blends: Reyneke and Oak Valley, for example; some lovely Chenins (De Morgenzon and Ken Forrester's regular cuvée); and some great Rieslings (Klein Constantia and Paul Cluver).

Making a choice from so sumptuous a selection inevitably produces an injustice. Still, my money this year is with the Tokara white blend – the 2006 is probably now out of stock (but worth seeking out), the 2007 is a worthy successor.

Among the reds, the choice is a little less intimidating but it’s still more than ample: Lynx in Franschhoek, with its seamlessly structured SMV, Bein Merlot – unshowy and finely crafted, Rustenberg's John X Merriman, Quoin Rock and Eagle's Nest's Syrahs are some of the candidates.

My vote, however, goes to the 2006 Raka Biography Shiraz. A worthy successor to the multiple award-winning 2004, it's peppery, with finely perfumed notes of nutmeg and clove, and remarkably inexpensive.

This is a price point at which it becomes possible to buy a decent bottle of fizz. Choice here is surprisingly good, with most Méthode Cape Classique (MCC) producers offering at least an entry-level bubbly at less than R100.

With Villiera, Pongracz, Graham Beck, Krone, Simonsig, Bon Courage all in this price bracket, it becomes almost arbitrary deciding which is the pick of the crop.
On track record alone – as well as on current availability – Villiera’s Munro Brut 2001 is as good a bet as you will find anywhere.

WHAT RECESSION?

ONCE you go up to the unlimited budget class a curious inversion occurs: there aren't that many white wines available above the middle price point, and a significant percentage of them are here for marketing (rather than intrinsic quality) reasons.
You'll find Cape Point Isliedh, The FMC Chenin Blanc, Rustenberg Five Soldiers Chardonnay, Vergelegen White Blend, Steenberg Magna Carta, Sadie Family Palladius.

Some have enough of a track record to suggest that this is the league in which their game is played. None is unreasonably priced compared with the posing and preening that goes on in the top of the red wine classes.

However, here my choice is simple and unequivocal (if hard to find). It is the Ataraxia Chardonnay 2007 – Platter five-star laureate, Tri-Nations Class-winner and one of the finest and most elegant white wines made in SA to date.

Come to the reds, and the list is much longer (though once again a fair percentage of the wines which have been listed in the R150+ per bottle are for marketing reasons). Nothing else explains the price points of wines such Vergelegen's V, Waterford's The Jem, Ernie Els, Galpin Peak's Tête de Cuvée Pinot Noir, Vilafonte Series C and Sadie's Columella. However, once you've disposed of this issue there's no disputing their intrinsic quality, nor of the others on my current short list.

Meerlust's Pinot Noir, La Motte's Pierneef Shiraz, Spice Route's Malabar, Boekenhoutkloof’s Syrah, Buitenverwachting's Christine, Vergelegen's Estate Blend, Hartenberg's The Stork, Thelema's Cabernet and Morgenster's Estate Blend, as well as the Tosca, all make quite good company.

Still, my pick of the year is the Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2004, beautifully crafted, unshowy, finely integrated and with ample ageing potential.

Looking for a bubbly to wrap up the year most people wish had tracked another course? There are a few out there which apply the same rules of the still wine trade: the higher the price, the more it's supposed to represent a compelling purchase.
Still, this is where the best MCC producers position their rarest and most thoughtfully assembled offerings. In these straitened times perhaps it's unwise to be seen drinking the prestige cuvées of the big French brands.

Instead, you can choose between the new Graham Beck Cuvée Clive 2003 (R450) or Krone's Nicolas Charles Krone Marque I (R300) and know that your patriotism will be more in evidence than your parsimony.