The Boers fought for centuries to establish their credentials as indigenous and God-fearing Africans. They fought the Khoikhoi and the British; they even fought their own workforce, imported from the tribal "homelands" and denied the rights of citizenship. And when they gave up and confronted the dreadful mess that apartheid had created, they accepted that truth and reconciliation must be the order of the day. Fortunately, Calvinist hostility notwithstanding, the wine was there, waiting to be poured. The motto should be in vino veritas et reconciliatio concordiae. For if anything can reconcile enemies, it is wine. The South African product, with its generous strength and bitter aroma, reminds you of that country's tragic history but also offers you hope for the future - hope that is needed more than ever, now that the Zimbabwean disease is spreading south.
No wine embodies the spirit of reconciliation more eloquently than the Hawequas, which comes from the hills outside the sleepy town of Wellington that bear that Khoisan name. This, the second wine of the Mont du Toit estate, is a deep black Cabernet Sauvignon blend, expertly made by the estate's indigenous winemaker, and filling the nose and mouth with its smoky, spicy flavours. It is not cheap, but then nor is it expensive, and its conciliating qualities were put to the test when Sophie burned the potatoes and then dropped the plate with which she tried in vain to rescue them. Yes, it worked. I sat quietly at the table, lifting my glass in a spirit of truth and reconciliation as she sucked her burned fingers and, with agonised gestures, picked up the pieces and wiped the floor. By the time she had cleared the mess and was nursing her fingers under the cold tap, the bottle was empty and my heart at peace.
The Rhebokskloof Merlot comes from the 17th-century estate of Tracey Thornycroft and her father. This wine is huge, aromatic, with fruit and oak both reconciled in its smooth finish and long aftermath. It won a much-coveted Veritas gold award in 2004, and a somewhat less coveted Reconciliatio silver award from the Scrutons, Sophie having been pacified at last, though not before we reached the end of the bottle.
We gave full marks to the Nelson's Creek Sauvignon Blanc, which has all the zest of a Sancerre, with a fine herbaceous aroma that wafts its citrus flavours about like a scarf of gauze around the limbs of a nymph. The Old Vines Chenin Blanc is the product of diligent labour expended on an often ungrateful grape. It, too, has won a Veritas gold award, with the 1999 vintage. But it did not win the Scruton Reconciliatio bronze - "too dry", said Sophie, who refused to be argued with and stormed off to give her portion to Sam the horse.
