Those were the days, my friend!

"Those were the days, my friend, I thought they'd never end."
So sang Mary Hopkin almost 40 years ago, in 1968.  But how many times have they been repeated since then?  There has been such a clamour for "the good old days" that there is now a complete retro movement – retro cars, retro radios, retro furniture, just as long as whatever has been "retro'd" contains the most up to date technology!

But were "those days" really so good?  Just think, there was no remote for the TV or garage, music was played by scratching a needle across a large piece of brittle vinyl, a heater was an extra-cost option on cars, and telephones were still attached to cables!

Now I am relatively new to the "www" age, which in my case stands for the Wonderful World of Wine.  For me, the Good Old Days started with my first edition of Platter's, the 1993 edition which looks positively anorexic alongside the steroid-enhanced 2005 version!  A quick perusal revealed scores of names which no longer exist, or have evolved into different beings.

There is a wine called Virginia which paradoxically only gets 1 line, but which states that the wine is SA's single biggest brand, a half-star rated semi-sweet steen/clairette blanche blend!  Whatever happened to the Soetwynboere Co-op (red wines R4& mdash;R10, whites R3.80—R4!)?  Oh how I yearn for some Zomerlust, Plonk Ordinaire, I'm not joking – they made something called Plonk de Blanc which even rated 2*; but without doubt, my favourite has to be Golden Mustang.  The description defies belief:

"1* - White cinsaut/hanepoot blend, perfumed nose, caramel-orange colour, sweet.  Abrupt finish.  Wild West rodeo packaging.  Sold only in E/N Cape"

Well, if those were the Good Old Days, they can stay right where they belong.  Today I tasted a 2005 Viognier from Zevenwacht, barely 2 weeks old and already promising to be a potential thoroughbred, though definitely not a Golden Mustang!

Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the list of 1992 Veritas winners sounds very familiar – Rust en Vrede, Rustenburg, Kanonkop, Hamilton Russel, Warwick, Villiera... .  For some, the Good Old Days just keep rolling along!  For today's thoroughbred wines, check out your local Manuka Fine Wine Boutique, where you are sure to find a winning collection.


Written by Stephen Digby - Manuka @ Southeys - Somerset West   10th March 2005