Who are you? Where do you come from? How can I recognise you? These are the questions that run through our minds when me meet someone new, visit a new place, try a different cuisine, or taste a distinctive wine. Ultimately wine should taste of place.
What this all boils down to is provenance. Whether it’s people, places, or wine, we remember things through storytelling. Provenance is about telling the world who you are, what makes you different, and the history that defines you. Only then can you create wines that are instantly recognisable and cannot have been made anywhere else. Linking the origin of a wine to who created it and when, are potent symbols of identity. Taste a Chardonnay from Corton Charlemagne and you won’t confuse it with one from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, for instance. It unquestionably tastes like itself, the result of terroir and centuries of know-how.
Regionality used to be a conversation confined to the Old World, perfecting the language of provenance by linking a wine’s taste memory to specific vineyards. However, regionality has increasingly become more and more important in the New World, especially in South Africa, with a steady spike in the number of wards, increasing from over 60 to almost 100 in just the last eight years. The story of place has become so important that single vineyard wines have dramatically increased in popularity, with 1,731 single vineyard sites registered in the country.
Belthazar is passionate about telling the stories of wines and their origins. Join us to experience the taste of place, through Belthazar’s 41 listed appellations. Our sommeliers have curated a benchmark list of 400 wines showcasing an array of regions, styles, and prized vintages, stored in a designer vinotéque that controls temperature and humidity to ensure that your wine is always served perfectly. With its state-of-the-art wine preservation system, Belthazar has risen to the fore on the global stage as the largest wine by the glass bar, offering a selection of 200 cuvées. Every wine is served in Riedel crystal stemware to enhance the expression of variety and place.
