Race, Taste and the Grape

South African Wine from a Global Perspective

Paul Nugent

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2024
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009204040
• Subtopic: African History
• Index: History

With the introduction of wine to the Cape Colony, it became associated locally with social extremes: with the material trappings of privilege and taste, on the one side, and the stark realities of human bondage, on the other. By examining the history of Cape wine, Paul Nugent offers a detailed history of how, in South Africa, race has shaped patterns of consumption. The book takes us through the Liquor Act of 1928, which restricted access along racial lines, intervention to address overproduction from the 1960s, and then latterly, in the wake of the fall of the Apartheid regime, deregulation in the 1990s and South Africa's re-entry into global markets. We see how the industry struggled to embrace Black Economic Empowerment, environmental diversity and the consumer market. This book is an essential read for those interested in the history of wine, and how it intersects with both South African and global history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Imprints page
• Dedication
• Note on the Text
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgements
• Note on Measurements
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: History through a Wine Glass - Empire, Slavery and Microbes
• 1 Contesting the Moral High Ground: Overproduction and the Temperance Onslaught, 1880-1928
• 2 'South Africa Calling the World': KWV Regulation and the Struggle over Quality, 1924-1940
• 3 Orchestrating a White Wine Revolution: Merchants, Farmers, Co-operatives and Consumers, c. 1940-1962
• 4 De-racializing the Liquor Laws: Temperance, Wine and the Consumption of Race, 1928-1964
• 5 Bureaucracy without the State: The KWV System and Its Discontents, 1962-1986
• 6 Selling Wine to the Many: Competition, Branding and Advertising, 1962-1986
• 7 A Perfect Storm: Deregulation and Restructuring in the Wine Industry, 1985-2000
• 8 The Renaissance of South African Wine: Innovation, Sustainability and Empowerment since the 1990s
• 9 Terroirs, Brands and Competition: The Emerging Landscape of South African Wine
• Conclusion: The Mutual Entanglement of Race and the Vine
• Bibliography
• Index