It is summer, and here in the Cape the long evenings nudge one in the direction of that most South African past time: the braai. Although, how we can try to lay claim to the roasting of meat over a flame is beyond me. Maybe it is because we have made the braai into something a little more than that (parcochial gender roles for example, “Me braai, you salad”), but scorched flesh is at the core of any braai. A vegetarian braai is an oxymoron, and a braai without flames is like a BLT without bacon, lettuce or tomato.

I am sure some of you have fancypants braais, with meat from animals that have been reared in a spa with regular massages, sauna treatments, aromatherapy, yoga, and enemas; there may be jus and foams, reductions and other such concoctions. Others may have the simplest of braais. I had one of these, once. A spatch-cock chicken. That was it. I think we may have been stoned. There were two of us and we ate half a chicken, but damn it we flame-grilled that poor bird, so it was a braai to us.

Of course you see where I am leading you, coaxing you to the question of which wines are best suited to braais. I will get there, and this week I will focus on local wines under R100.

Growing up, however, it was always beer around the braai and wine (white, nondescript, loaded with ice) in the kitchen. There was, of course, the exception in my French uncle for whom a glass of red wine is never far away. But beer was the norm. Beer dominates the braai. Is it some form of magnetic alliteration? Is beer that much better designed for smoke and charred meat? Do we still hold some outmoded idea that wine is for girls and beer is for boys? Or, possibly,  is there some emasculation going on when a can is taken from the chief steak flipper and an elegant riedel glass subbed in?

Is the braai the time when a man takes his place at the head of the clan once more? Is the braai man’s last link to his primordial ancestors? If his hunting trip has been supplanted by a toodle down to woolies (or meat spa for the fancy) then at least he can still stand, beat his chest and grill his meat like men have done since time immemorial. Does sipping a Sauvignon Blanc, or even a more butch Cabernet Sauvignon, detract from this link? After all, it is easier to imagine a hulking Neanderthal with a can of Castle than it is with a carafe of Syrah.

Which makes me wonder why so many men still drag their knuckles and issue grunts while gnawing on something fleshy; men whose approach to women is as blunt as a club to the head. For these missing links, the braai is sacred, a hallowed place where modernity has left them in peace.

Maybe wine can be their redemption. Through wine could we reconnect the broken link in communication between the salad and the wors. Could it lead to – shock, gasp, horror –  more Misters making coleslaw and potato salad while more Missus’ grill those steaks to perfection?

Who knows. But surely wine leans toward gender neutrality while beer is situated firmly on the side of masculinity. Wine certainly needs no websites dedicated to the promotion of women drinking it, as beer seems to need. Wine sees neither penis nor vagina, it sees only a good pairing, and these four wines are a perfect match for this summer’s braais.

Let’s start with the Hermit on the Hill The Infidel 2010 – (Available at Vino Pronto on Orange st, Cape Town and Norman Goodfellow’s, Oxford Road, Illovo, Joburg).

This is a Sauvignon Blanc (with a splash of Semillon). The variety, I would guess, most quaffed at braais all over the country (especially in the kitchen). But this is no normal Sauvignon Blanc, this is a wine that breaks the rules. And as we are trying to transform the typical South African braai, I thought I would turn to an atypical Sauvignon Blanc to get the job done.

Sauvignon Blanc is typically made reductively. That is, it is shielded from oxygen as it is made by the use of carbon dioxide, nitrogen or other gasses. The aim of this technique is to promote the bright, fresh fruit flavours of the Sauvignon Blanc grape.

But the Infidel – as the name suggests – tells those normal Sauvignon Blanc production methods to sod right off and is fermented on the skins and stalks in open top old barrels. What about commercial yeasts? Not a chance, nature takes its course and this wine ferments naturally.

What do we end up with? Well for the lowly price of R70 you receive a truly interesting wine. In its second year in bottle it shows lovely green fruits – with no sickly asparagus thankfully – all grassy, citrus, and green pepper with a deliciously taut acidity and mineral streak. If that doesn’t make you want to race into the kitchen, then, well, we’ll have to try something else.

How about the LAM 2010 White Blend (Chenin 60% Viognier 40%)? This is made by the team at Lammershoek in the Swartland, and is has to be one of the best value wines around. Not simply because of its peachy pear freshness, low alcohol, bright and bouncy acidity, or because it has a funky Victorian pharmacy vibe on its label. (Have you noticed how little effort is put into cheaper wine labels?) But because so much time and thought has gone into making this wine. And you get for around 60 to 70 bucks.

The grapes are organically farmed (good for you pampered cow eaters), and the wine is made naturally with very low suphur dioxide additions, and no tannins, acids or enzymes added to the wine. The reason they are able to make a wine so naturally at lammershoek is because their fruit is of such a high quality and their vines are happy. For such high-quality fruit you would expect to pay far more than what is on sale for. Get it while it’s hot.

Contact the farm to find where the wine is available: carla@lammershoek.co.za.

Right, onto the reds.

I have gone for the super dependables here. Wines that you will always be sure of. Wines you can put your trust in. Wines with a proud heritage that deserve their place next to the braai tongs and broodjies (just not too close to the fire less they get warm).

The Kanonkop Kadette 2010 is a blend of Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and is aged for around 16 months in French oak barrels. Kanonkop is the closest we have to a First Growth here in South Africa, with their top of the range Paul Sauer being truly and consistently world-class. The Kadette, their second tier wine, offers stonking good-value – a rich, deliciously well balanced red blend from such a famous producer for under R100. I’m in. Especially as this wine was made for smokey, charred animal flesh. It’s perfect for our cause. Give it to a caveman and he is one step closer to a gentleman.

Sticking with traditional estates, my last suggestion for braai wines for this summer is the Alto Rouge 2008 (older vintages available from the farm). This time a blend dominated by Shiraz with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon making up the rest. Alto has been pumping out red wine from the 1920s. Can you imagine how many braais Alto wine has been present at? I’m surprised there isn’t a roll of wors on the label. This wine again offers value above and beyond the spicy blackberry flavours cedar spice, vanilla, and strong manly tannins. Indeed, you are taking part in a long history of sipping on an Alto while gnawing on a chop. And again, a bargain at under R100 South African Rond. Both of these reds are available at most bottle stores with a decent wine selection.

Hopefully these wines will add, err, spice to your braais, and give an extra dimension to your meals. And maybe, we will be one step closer to getting, as a friend said, “the typical guy to strap a bow tie around that khaki shirt.”