SOUTH AFRICA achieved three gold medals at the 2024 edition of Chardonnay du Monde in Burgundy, France, with one of the winning wines – the 2023 vintage of Glen Carlou’s wooded version – ranked among the Top 10. WO Paarl, R190pb ex-cellar! Some 200 wine experts from around the world were involved in the judging of 579 entries comprising various
Read moreCaroline’s annual White Wine Review, hailed as one of the most coveted tasting events on the South African wine calendar, returns to The Lookout Venue at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Wednesday 1 November. Presented by Caroline Rillema of the legendary Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar, this world-class showcase gives wine enthusiasts the rare opportunity to discover and savour the
Read moreWHO CAN BLAME the trophy winners at London’s International Wine & Spirit Competition for having mixed feelings about their success… Who would have thought it possible that the wines judged to be the best gold medallists on show would be given scores lower than those of some of the other gold medallists that didn’t go on to earn a trophy,
Read moreWHAT A LINE-UP of top SA wine events to look forward to in October ’23! In Johannesburg: WineX and Veritas. And in the Cape: the Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Celebration, Veritas Cape Town, Swartland Sosiaal in Piketberg and the CWG Auction, Somerset West. Then, come November: Caroline’s White Wine Review in Cape Town; the Botriver Vineyards Roadshow and Pick n
Read moreOverlooking the Franschhoek Valley, La Petite Ferme – the name translates simply as ‘the small farm’ – is situated alongside the Oliphants Pass on the slopes of the Middagkrans Mountain Range. Over the decades, it has evolved into a memorable winelands destination that includes a boutique hotel, an award-winning restaurant which serves country cuisine with a fresh contemporary touch, and
Read moreFROM JANUARY to August 2023, the top panels of wine experts judged some 700 of South Africa’s finest to be at least high silver or gold medal standard. Of these, around 140 were considered 96 points or higher, Best in Class, Top 10 or 12, worthy of grand gold, platinum or master awards, trophy laureates, competition winners or Wines of
Read moreTHE ACHIEVEMENT of Iona with the 2021 Chardonnay in their Elgin Highlands range at the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) was impressive, to say the least. Of all the Chardonnays entered in the competition, it was one of only 16 rated 97+ on the judges’ 100-point scale and one of only three honoured among the ‘Best in Show’ (Top
Read more“IF BABOONS could talk, they’d tell you that Chardonnay is their favourite fruit,” says Meyer Joubert, cellarmaster and viticulturist at Joubert-Tradauw outside Barrydale in the Klein Karoo. The baboons (and the birds) present a challenge he could do without, but what he manages to keep from them makes for wine under his own label as well as those of producers
Read moreONE OF the Top 10, opined the judges at Chardonnay du Monde 2023 in France, gold medallist at Mundus Vini 2023 in Germany, also gold medallist at the Global Chardonnay Masters 2022, UK. No other South African Chardonnay has been welcomed with as many such glowing reviews from international panels of experts in recent months. More premium than Nederburg’s ‘Winemasters’
Read moreNOT A SINGLE Chardonnay considered better than 94/100 in Winemag’s 2022 Prescient Report on the category in South Africa? In the collective opinion of editor Christian Eedes and his fellow judges on the panel, James Pietersen and Jolette Steyn of retailer Wine Cellar in Cape Town, there weren’t any ‘extraordinary’ or ‘profound’ examples among the 80 wines from the 59
Read moreWHOA! Better than R60 a bottle for this award winner from Van Loveren in the Robertson winelands, R49pb is all that’s being asked for the 2021 Tangled Tree Butterscotch Chardonnay from the Ultra Value Wine Challenge organisers, BuyBetterWine.com. And Woah! The White Wine of the Year at the 2022 competition (for wines selling at under R130 per 750ml) is also
Read moreALTHOUGH the 2022 Ultra Value Wine Challenge was open to entries selling for up to R130 a bottle, the Wine of the Year awards for the highest-scoring red and white in the competition were presented for submissions way below the price ceiling. Best-value red: a blend (mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz) from the Koelenhof Winery in Stellenbosch, the Koelenberg 2021.
Read moreSOUTH AFRICA has a number of fine Chardonnay cellars, and that of Paul Clüver on De Rust Estate in Grabouw counts as one of the very best. Pioneers of the Elgin wine district in the Cape South Coast, the farmers, winemakers and business folk on the team also know their stuff when it comes to Pinot Noir, Riesling and Sauvignon
Read moreTHE 2020 VINTAGE of Neil Ellis’s Whitehall Chardonnay had only been on the market for a few months when it was included among the Top 4 in Winemag‘s 2021 South African Chardonnay Report. By the end of the year it had been Highly Recommended in Platter‘s SA Wine Guide, and after some more time in bottle it was considered 95+ on
Read moreTHE DECANTER World Wine Awards in the UK are mega. 18 244 entries in 2022, a world record as international wine competitions go. Judged over two weeks, with the various panels comprising some 250 experts including more than 41 Masters of Wine and 13 Master Sommeliers. 8074 bronze medals awarded, 5900 silvers, 676 golds, 165 platinum medals and 50 wines
Read moreTHE PRICE of over R1000 a bottle puts Bouchard Finlayson’s flagship Pinot Noir from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley into the realm of South Africa’s luxury wines, although for less than half that you can get the same vintage of their Galpin Peak. In fact it wasn’t that long ago that the “cameo selection” Tête de Cuvée also carried the name Galpin
Read moreNOW IN ITS 38th year, the International Wine Challenge (IWC) is one of the world’s most rigorous wine competitions. Every medal winner is assessed ‘blind’ on at least three separate occasions by a minimum of two panels of judges tasting together, and then again by two of the show’s co-chairs, who in 2022 comprised Tim Atkin MW, Sam Caporn MW,
Read moreAT THE SA fine wine auction by Strauss & Co on 3 April 2022, highlights of the sale focusing on three top Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers in the Hemel-en-Aarde were as follows: • Six bottles of Crystallum Cuvée Cinéma Pinot Noir 2009 fetched R8000 (R9380 incl VAT and fees), compared to the pre-auction estimate of R9000 to R12 000. •
Read morePRETTY NEAT! In 2021 they did it with their Finesse 2020. In 2022 they’ve done it with their Bateleur 2020. One of the Top 10 gold medallists at Chardonnay du Monde two years in succession. Up against top producers from around the world, and in Burgundy, France. Go De Wetshof! Go Robertson! There were 546 entries from 32 countries,
Read moreSJOE! The Trophy Wine Show got it so right when they honoured the 2019 Thokozani Cabernet Franc as Discovery of the Show in 2022. Best value gold medallist in South Africa’s premier wine competition, open to wines of all categories, this beauty from the Diemersfontein cellar in Wellington was also top of its class at the National Wine Challenge (SA)
Read more
