Having put forward some thoughts and facts recently, I suspect this week will be considered more of a rant, and an opinionated one at that. It’s hard to be anything else when the topic is value for money – not the larger question of the value of wine versus cider, beer and whatever, which I dealt with partly statistically last week, but the inevitably contentious question of what makes a particular wine good value for money. We all have our own ideas about this, depending on what we desire and what we think is worth spending money on.

In general, however, I find it annoying when marketers and commentators only talk about “cheap wines” when they are referring to cheaper wines, such as: “This is Blankenberg’s inexpensive range” or “The restaurant not only has expensive wines, but also some inexpensive ones”.

I was reminded of this the other day as I opened and enjoyed a bottle of Boplaas Gamka Family Reserve 2020 – a blend of Touriga Naçional with 28% Shiraz and, to me, good value for money at R260. Boplaas had also offered it at a celebratory tasting in May this year. We had drunk it after trying the regular Touriga Naçional 2022 for less than half the price. The cheaper wine, considered good value at R120, was fruity, spicy and velvety and yes, that value for money was easy to agree with. But the Gamka surpassed it by far in quality and interest, was more seriously structured and more elegant and fresh – despite a hefty 14.5% alcohol and a lot of unobvious residual sugar.

At this event I was sitting next to a rich but friendly man, just the kind of person you can talk to about good prices. Piet Beyers has had a successful career in business and finance, including as director of Distell, and is a serious wine lover with, I believe, an excellent wine cellar. I see him occasionally at wine events, but he is not one of the journalists and associated rabble, but is usually there as a friend of the family, so to speak – as he was at this happy occasion, as he is a good friend of Carel Nel, who celebrated 45 vintages of wine, fortified wine and spirits at Boplaas.

We looked at each other, Piet and I, and agreed that the much more expensive Gamka was indeed the one that offered better value for money. That is, the ratio between quality and price was clearly in favor of quality. Incidentally, it was also easy to agree on the particularly good Boplaas ports during the tasting – perhaps especially the Tawnys.

Of course, value for money is not the only criterion that wine buyers apply, especially for those for whom price is quite irrelevant when they want something. Therefore, the prices of top wines at home and abroad continue to rise.

And if value for money is a criterion, at least to some extent, much depends on context. Let’s look at some Syrahs as an example. I believe the single terroir Syrahs from Mullineux have almost tripled in price over the last decade and they now sell locally for just over R1 400 a bottle (the second most expensive local Syrah?). This makes the Mullneux Signature Syrah at around R450 seem very good value (this conclusion may be reflected in the producer’s marketing strategy). On the other hand, it might make the great Granite Syrah at R1 450, while arguably much better, not seem very good value – but then again, that is not necessarily the criterion for everyone.

You won’t get hold of the latest Porseleinberg so easily, but perhaps that’s because, in addition to its excellent reputation, you could have gotten almost two bottles of it for the price of the Mullineux. Some other of my (and others’) top-rated Syrahs are Sons of Sugarland and Van Loggerenberg, and those would be even cheaper, despite a recent fairly high price for the latter. Does that make them worth the money? Or just comparatively good value for money, I wonder. Personally, I consider Sons of Sugarland to be one of the most valuable Cape Syrahs, and for a little less than the Mullineux Signature. On the other hand, you could buy two bottles of Mullineux Schist for just one bottle of Boschkloof Epilogue Syrah 2021 (- but the latter is no longer available (incidentally, I see that three bottles sold at a local auction last month for R15,243 – a nice quick profit for someone).

However, looking at the international context, the story is arguably different again. The best Rhône Syrahs sell for considerably more than the Syrahs from a single terroir, Mullineux, and some even sell for more than Boschkloof. It is worth noting, however, that Hermitages and Côte-Rôties have demonstrated their ability to age beautifully over decades, which is not the case with the local versions. I stopped buying Rhône Syrahs (or the cheaper red Rhône blends) a few years ago because the Cape versions undoubtedly offer better value for money at all levels, given their quality and modest prices – at least for relatively young drinkers. That is generally still the case, despite how expensive some of the local varieties have become.

I would say it has certainly reached a point where you can’t say across the board that all local wines are undervalued, because some certainly aren’t. Interestingly, this is perhaps more true of Syrah than anything else. I wonder how they sell internationally; some of them sell quite well, I think. If I lived in London or New York, I think it’s very unlikely that I would choose to buy top-quality Cape Syrah at a modest discount to tried and tested top versions from the Rhône.

I would do even less for the Cabernet equivalents compared to Bordeaux, where prices are unrivalled except at the top end – but that is even more a question of style preference; the Cape wines could well be better value than many Californians or Australians, whose best examples (especially the American ones) would be considerably more expensive. As for cheaper reds – with what is available from France, Spain and Italy (especially at EU subsidised prices) – well, no, not if I am looking for value for money.

But Cape whites, yes, I would certainly buy them. Some of them (especially Chenins and Chenin-based blends) are unique and very desirable and not too expensive; some because they are excellent value for money (most Sauvignon Blanc, some Chardonnay). Locally, much the same thing happens with Chenin as with Syrah: prices vary widely, while average quality is pretty good. Some bottles are now the preserve of the rich (I gave up Sadie Mev Kirsten for the first time in many years this year as the price has become too high for me), but the not-so-rich and even the comparatively poor can still find remarkable prices for South African Chenin at home and abroad. Let’s hope it stays that way for a while.

• Tim James is one of South Africa’s leading wine commentators and writes for various local and international wine publications. His book “Wines of South Africa – Tradition and Revolution” was published in 2013.