AS Fairtrade products become mainstream, are we beginning to take them for granted?

This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight passed recently with more of a whimper than a bang.

Fairtrade bananas, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, even flowers and cotton are now mainstream, but the impact on the wine industry has been more minimal.

There are, for example, only about 50 wine producers registered as Fairtrade, all in three countries: South Africa, Chile and Argentina.

It’s been a tough start to the year in two of these, with major damage to vineyards by some of the most destructive wildfires ever seen in Chile and South Africa. Many wine producers will struggle to make a living.

This being the case, Fairtrade, which ensures that those who work the land get the best possible return for their efforts, has never been more needed.

The bottom line is that they must be just as good as their competitors in the market. Perhaps Fairtrade wine has not received the attention it might because much of it is sold at fairly low prices. It’s not perceived as being very high quality.

Crucially though, it really does represent fine value for money, as I’ve just been reminded as I tasted a number of examples.

All my suggestions come from South Africa, but the South American examples on the shelves are just as worth investigating.

Three wines, new to me, form part of the Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ range and are produced by Bosman family vineyards, a very old family business based at Wellington, just inland from Paarl, near Cape Town.

They employ 260 workers in what is the biggest Black Economic Empowerment project in the world of wine.

Sainsbury’s Fairtrade, Taste the Difference, Chenin Blanc 2016 (£7) is a good place to start. It’s a textbook example of a well-made, dryish white wine from South Africa’s most popular white wine grape: riper and more pineapple-like than a French Chenin, not so sharp, but far more fruity.

More unusual is ‘The Vine Garden’ Rosé 2016, which is a blend of no less than 46 different varieties. At £6, it’s outstanding value. A pretty salmon pink, fairly dry again and really rather sophisticated in a lingering strawberry way. I love it.

It makes an interesting comparison with Marks & Spencer Fairtrade, ‘Six Hat’s’ Rosé 2016, which is made from just one variety, South Africa’s distinctive Pinotage. It too costs a very reasonable £6. It’s lighter, and a little sweeter with an aroma of red cherry and rhubarb.

Back to the Bosman’s, their Fairtrade, Taste the Difference Shiraz 2016 (£6) is another genuine bargain. It’s a rich, purple-red, but rather than going all out for power, it’s all about up-front juicy fruit, with carefully-balanced tannin and acidity to support it. In this instance, the fruit is black cherry, black plums and brambles. Try it with a dish of South Africa’s favourite comfort food, Bobotie.