Melanie McDonagh

Politically correct wines worth drinking

These bottles satisfy my need for middle-class virtue – and my tastebuds

• From magazine issue: 28 June 2014

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Then there’s the ideological soundness of the production methods. Instinctively I like anything that feels as if it might have been picked by hand, and if not trodden by feet, at least produced in some small artisanal setting, preferably on a profit-sharing basis. So my selection from Private Cellar was rather pleasing. BlouVlei (Blue Valley), the label tells me, ‘is home to the men and women whose devotion and energy produced this wine. Its proceeds contribute to a better life for them.’ Dandy.

My favourite from this grower was the Sauvignon Blanc (£10), a nice clean, crisp wine, of exactly the sort I like to have to hand in the fridge. It’s a good everyday wine, if you can run to a tenner a bottle, even if you don’t give a toss about the ethics of the thing. The red, just called the BlouVlei Collection, came with the same credentials but left me unmoved.

The other South African was the Terroir Selection from Springfontein, Walker Bay. And yep, the grapes are picked and sorted by hand and the wine is unfiltered. Which I like the sound of, without knowing anything about it. Here again the whites were very good: the Terroir Selection Chenin Blanc, Walker Bay 2011, was the wine I liked most of all, though at £15 it’s about twice my normal purchase price. It’s got body but enough tartness to be fresh: lovely.

I’ve got a thing about chilling some reds at this time of year. For this purpose, the Ique Malbec from Argentina (£9.15) was rather good. Funnily enough it tasted even better than the more expensive Bishops Head Pinot Noir from New Zealand at £16.90, which usefully dispelled the notion that more expensive means better. And from the wouldbegood point of view, Argentina is enough of an economic basket case to make drinking its wine a matter of duty as well as pleasure.