This is red wine drinking weather, my friends.

I’m sure many Capetonians will be battening down the hatches this evening, with wind and rain set to pummel most of the city, but South Africans will be cracking open bottles right around the country.

Now, thanks to a study by South Africa Market Insights, using official figures from Statistics South Africa, we can see how much wine lovers are willing to pay for a bottle in each province.

We’ll plonk the graph below, but who do you reckon comes out tops? If you’re thinking the Western Cape, and that would seem to be the logical choice, then you’d be wrong.

It’s KwaZulu-Natal coming out of left field, with this neck of the woods tucked in at second. Via Business Insider SA, here’s that graph we promised, showing the “average price of a 750ml bottle of red wine per province per year since 2010”.

Gauteng, I’m disappointed in you. Must be those on the East Rand drinking it by the papsak, right? The original report did contain this dig:

We can only assume the quality of red wine stocked in the Western Cape is of a higher quality than the rest of the country, as they are all wine experts down in the Cape and would not be seen dead buying a cheap bottle of wine. Only joking Western Cape readers.

Maybe KZN wine drinkers are more flashy, or maybe Western Cape drinkers know that the quality of the wine doesn’t always correlate to the price on the bottle.

Just ask those who enjoy a bottle of the Wolftrap Red from Boekenhoutskloof, which is a massive seller that doesn’t do too much damage to the wallet.

It’s R58 a pop on Cyber Cellar, with this write-up:

The Wolftrap Red from Boekenhoutskloof is an easy-drinking red blend at a very pocket-friendly price. A blend of Shiraz, with added Mourvedre and Viognier, give this wine a concentrated red colour with an edge of purple. The nose is delightfully fruity with aromas of black fruits and black and red berries. The palate is smooth with further fruitiness present, expressed as cherries and wild strawberries.

Lifehack – memorise a few of those terms, bust out the Wolftrap at your next dinner, impress your guests.