LETTER OF THE MONTH
I read last month’s Q&A in ‘Wine wisdom’, ‘Does vine age matter?’, on the day that I was in London to attend a tasting at the South African High Commission on the theme of old vines, with the highlight (apart from the wines) being a talk from Rosa Kruger [winner of the 2022 Decanter Hall of Fame Award] on the South African Old Vine Project.
This struck me as an amazing enterprise. The work that they do, led by Rosa and with the involvement of so many producers, is incredible in terms of the preservation of these vines, but also the education around them. Where else can you buy wine from old vines where the year the vines were planted is certified, and stated on every bottle? Why pay a fortune for a bottle of wine to celebrate a special birthday when you can buy a bottle of wine from vines planted in the year that person was born?!
It made me wonder what other countries are doing to preserve their old vines? And what does ‘old vines’ mean? It’s 35 years in South Africa, but what about elsewhere? If this initiative and Decanter’s coverage raises the profile of old vines, and helps save some from being grubbed up, then many will applaud you. John Kavanagh, by email Elie Lloyd-Ellis, decanter.com assistant editor, replies: There are various organisations around the world, eg Save the Old (Lodi, California) and the Old Vine Charter (Barossa, Australia), concerned with the preservation of old vines. The definition of ‘old’ varies. As Mr Kavanagh rig
