Sought after by European aristocrats and a favorite of Napoleon Bonaparte, the sweet wines of Constantia in the Cape Colony were considered to be among the world’s best during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the first democratic elections in 1994, South Africa began to re-emerge onto the international wine scene. Tim James, an expert on South African wines, takes the reader on an information-packed tour of the region, showing us how and why the unique combination of terroir and climate, together with dramatic improvements in winemaking techniques, result in wines that are once again winning accolades. James describes important grape varieties and wine styles—from delicate sparkling, to rich fortified, and everything in between—including the varietal blends that produce some of the finest Cape wines. Anchoring his narrative in a rich historical context, James discusses all the major wine regions, from Cederberg to Walker Bay, complete with profiles of more than 150 of the country’s finest producers.
Tim James is a certified Cape Wine Master and freelance wine journalist. He is the regional consultant on South Africa for The World Atlas of Wine and a taster and associate editor on the annual Platter Guide to South African Wine. In addition to his weekly column for the Mail & Guardian, his work also appears regularly in The World of Fine Wine and online at www.grape.co.za.
“Tim James combines the necessary cool eye and warm heart as successfully as any wine writer, making him the ideal guide to the new South Africa. Critical, knowledgable, and passionate, erudite, eloquent, and lucid, he finds the gold at both ends of the rainbow, explaining the past and illuminating the present with a light but very sure touch. This is the book on South Africa for which wine lovers have been waiting.”--Neil Beckett, editor of The World of Fine Wine
"Tim James knows the Cape wine scene as well as anyone and far better than most local journalists. He brings an academic's rigour to his research, but he's a hedonist, too, reveling in the best wines. South Africa is lucky to have such a well informed advocate."--Tim Atkin MW
344 pp.7 x 10Illus: 13 maps, 2 tables
9780520260238$39.95|£34.00Hardcover
Jul 2013