Last year's World Cup gave Japan the opportunity to discover more about South Africa than just vuvuzelas: In 2010, packaged wine exports from South Africa to Japan grew by an impressive 11 percent. While the noise of the hornlike instrument is happily fading away (hopefully never to be heard again), the impression left by the country's wines might prove to be more enduring, not least because they represent excellent value in these straightened times.
The end of apartheid heralded the beginning of the revitalization of the country's flagging wine industry. Boycotts on South African goods had prevented the country gaining an international reputation, but once the oppressive regime collapsed, the industry was able to set about making a name for itself.
During the 1990s, flying winemakers led the charge in revolutionizing their craft. These overseas producers introduced new hygienic techniques that led to increasing sophistication in what had been a rather rough, rustic product.