The perfect case of wine: why six bottles beat one

A case of wine does something a single bottle cannot. Six bottles promise six different evenings, and when it arrives as a gift there is enough there to last beyond one dinner.

For anyone in the UK working out where to start with South African wine, a mixed case is the sensible move. Rather than gambling on one bottle, you get a spread across regions, grapes and styles. And if you are sending wine to somebody with South African connections, a case stops being a gift and starts being a delivery from home.

What makes a good mixed case

Not all cases are equal. The good ones have been put together by somebody who tasted through a lot of wine and picked bottles that work both individually and as a set.

A well-built case usually covers several occasions: something crisp and food-friendly for a weeknight, a red that will please a table on Sunday, and at least one bottle good enough for an occasion. Each wine earns its place while adding to the whole.

Think about it from the other end. The recipient is not receiving wine so much as options. Light supper tonight, so the Chenin Blanc. Friends round at the weekend, so the Pinotage. Something better next month, so the Cabernet.

The South African mixed case at £64 is the broadest of ours, covering both colours and a range of styles.

Cases built around a region

A regional case is a focused tour of what one part of the country does. The Swartland mixed case at £68 concentrates on Swartland, which is where old bush vines and low-intervention winemaking have produced the most interesting Cape wine of the last twenty years. The Western Cape mixed case at £70 casts wider across the province.

For someone who has been to the Cape, these trigger memories. A Swartland Syrah can put a person back on a dusty farm road outside Malmesbury. For someone who has not been, it works as a map: cool mountain slopes in Elgin, ancient soils in the Swartland, maritime air at Walker Bay.

Cases built around a colour or a style

Sometimes the useful split is simpler. The South African red wine case at £69 and the white wine case at £69 each do one job properly, which suits people who already know what they drink.

The sweet wines mixed case at £79 covers the fortified and dessert end, which is the part of the Cape range most people never explore and which includes some of its best value.

Cases built around an occasion

An entertaining case takes the thinking out of hosting: something to open on arrival, versatile whites for the first course, robust reds for the main. The Premium Entertaining Case at £85 is built for exactly that, and it comes into its own around Christmas when the cooking is heavy and the house is full.

The practical appeal is obvious. Instead of standing in front of a shelf working out what goes with what, somebody else has done it, and the wines have been chosen to work together rather than assembled at random.

When you want the lucky dip

There is an old-fashioned pleasure in not knowing what is coming. The Funky Labels case at £69 is the closest thing to it: bottles picked for character rather than familiarity, several of which most people would never take off a shelf themselves.

It works well for regular wine drinkers who like trying things, and for gifts where you know the person likes wine but have no idea what they actually buy.

At the other end, Six of the Best at £175 gathers the serious bottles for someone who already knows the Cape and wants the good stuff.

Choosing

It comes down to knowing the person and the occasion. Sending wine to a South African living in the UK? A regional case from a part of the country they know carries weight beyond the wine. Buying for somebody adventurous? Something less predictable. Need wine for a particular event? An occasion-based case removes the guesswork.

Budget matters, but value matters more. A good mixed case costs less than the same bottles bought individually, so you are getting the curation for nothing.

Timing counts too. A case landing in December has a different job from one arriving in June. Winter wants robust reds; summer wants lighter wines for the garden.

Why it works as a gift

A case keeps delivering rather than being finished in an evening. Each bottle becomes its own occasion and its own small reminder that somebody thought about it.

Browse the full mixed cases range, or build your own from our South African wines selection. If you genuinely cannot guess what somebody drinks, a gift card solves it. Everything ships across the UK.