Malcolm Jolley talks to Alex Dale about South African winemakers’ reaction to the alcohol ban…
Alex Dale of Radford Dale in happier times with a glass of Chenin Blanc in Toronto, October 2019.
The COVID-19 crisis has been hard on many of the world’s winemakers, as GFR’s coverage has shown. It’s been particularly hard on winemakers in South Africa who were first faced with a total ban on selling alcohol at home and exporting it abroad. When that ban was lifted they were able to breath a small sigh of relief briefly until this month a domestic ban on alcohol sales was re-instated and nine o’clock nationwide curfew effectively shut down the country’s wine selling restaurants.
Alex Dale of the premium house Radford Dale and the value driven Winery of Good Hope is no stranger to longtime GFR readers and a leader in The Cape’s industry. I spoke to him this week via Zoom for the video interview below to find out what’s happening in South African besieged wine country and what he and his colleagues are trying to do about it, including the Capetown Restaurant Rescue project he’s organized to try and throw a lifeline to the city’s beleaguered fine dining scene.
Email versions of this posts won’t display videos. Please click here to see the video at GFR.
Please consider buying a bottle (or more) of South African wine next time you shop. Export sales are the only source of revenue available to the region’s wineries, who face perilous times. Radford Dale wines are regularly in the LCBO and can also be found through their agent Nicholas Pearce Wines.
