The speed with which the character of the South African wine scene changed at the beginning of the post-apartheid era in the mid 1990s was impressive, but it seems to me that a new and even more exciting chapter in South African wine has begun. What we saw in the late 1990s and early years of this century was a gradual improvement in the quality of wines produced by some of the old names, and the establishment of many exciting new wine regions. But an increasing proportion of the new generation of accomplished, well-travelled young winemakers now has sufficient experience, confidence and, one must assume, funds to strike out on...