“Now this is the Law of the Jungle – as old and as true as the sky, And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die. For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” – Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book.
One hundred-point ratings are subjective, to be sure, and who you ascribe to should really be a matter between you and God.
However, there is no denying that when British Master of Wine Tim Atkin awarded Kanonkop’s Paul Sauer 2015 a perfect score in his South Africa Report of 2018, his first perfect score for a South African wine, it sent ripples throughout the fine wine world and signalled a change in the wind, though nothing we didn’t already know to be true. He ends his write-up: “Bravo Kanonkop! Bravo South Africa!” Fitting, given that the success of one represents us all. (The spirit of ubuntu really does permeate everything.) Though one score doesn’t even begin to cover the groundwork the industry had done in preparation for this accolade, it signalled the start of an avalanche of international recognition and commentary.
