Wine for beginner

Bearhunter

I think what cheapened the brand was that it became a commodity wine - produced to a specific template, ie green, zingy, gooseberry characters and a smell like a sweaty armpit. Originally, each winery had its own little idiosyncracies, but as it became hugely popular, they became more generic and now it can be hard to tell the more commercial brands (like Oyster Bay or Montana or even Wither Hills) apart. Thankfully there are still some wineries that produce different wines, such as Forrest Estate, Johanneshof (which uses wild yeast to ferment the juice), Hunter's, Lawson's, Alan Scott and the single-vineyard wines from the likes of Villa Maria and Stoneleigh. Sadly there aren't any of what used to be called Fume Blancs down here, oak-aged savvies that had a genuine character and weight to them. The export markets wanted samey, two-dimensional wines and sadly that's what they got. The overproduction was also - as you rightly point out - a factor. Going for tonnage rather than flavour, the wines have become slightly dilute, although that should change from the 2010 vintage. Certainly the barrel samples I've tried have been more impressive than usual.

Sorry for the essay, but I tend to get carried away...:)