FOR AN UPDATE of all the organic wines produced in South Africa that are officially certified as such, click here. Below are those from the Cape that received good to very good reviews from the top panels of experts in 2023. There are numerous winemakers and viticulturists who adhere to organic or biodynamic methods in the vineyard and cellar but
THE 2023 Absa Top 10 Pinotage and Perold Cape Blend awards have been reported on already, but for many wine lovers it’s not enough to know what the winning wines were. “Comparing favourites is one thing, but tell us where they come from? What do they taste like? Exactly who made them?” Questions answered: BEESLAAR PINOTAGE 2019 WO Stellenbosch. 25-year-old
IT SELDOM happens that a winemaker has a hand in two Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition laureates in the same year, but what do you know… In 2023 there were two of them: Abrie Beeslaar, cellarmaster behind the winning 2017 vintage from Kanonkop Estate in Stellenbosch and also coming top with the 2019 vintage under his own label, as well
THE SWARTLAND Survivor Pinotage had impressed for quite a while before the appointment of Pierre Wahl as cellarmaster in January 2022. So much to look forward to in due course with ‘The Pope of Pinotage’ now in charge. After four years at the Friedman family’s Môreson cellar in Franschhoek, followed by 20 years at Neville Dorrington’s Rijk’s wine estate in
MANY WOULD wager that GREAT reviews for wines at under R100 a bottle are a thing of the past. Not so according to the judges assessing what was entered for various top panel tastings in 2022 including the Chenin Blanc Challenge, the Michelangelo International Wine Awards and the Top 10 Pinotage Competition – to name just the most recent shows.
GO PULPIT ROCK! At just R90pb, the Brink Family Vineyards 2019 from the Pulpit Rock winery in Riebeek West is one of the standouts among the 2022 Absa Top 10 Pinotage Award winners. Windmeul of Paarl is the closest contender in terms of ‘best bang for your buck’ – R150pb for their 2019 Reserve but a track record impressive enough
TOP 10 IN the 2021 Winemag Pinotage Report (SA), gold medallist at the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) and trophy laureate in the Pinotage Association’s 2021 Absa Top 10 competition. What an impressive beginning for Francois van Niekerk’s first vintage (2019) under his own label – a very limited release produced when not busy as cellarmaster at Wellington Wines
IS IT JUST a figment of the imagination or does that bottle of Stellenbosch 1679 stand out front and foremost among the 2021 Absa Top 10? Picture (above) courtesy of the Pinotage Association, convener of the competition… Certainly the maiden vintage of the Pinotage flagship from Koelenhof Winery has attracted quite a bit of attention during the year, having also earned
WHAT TO MAKE of Diemersdal… A Sauvignon Blanc specialist. A Pinotage specialist. A good all-rounder. With a pretty decent ‘Farm Eatery’ to lunch or dine at in the winelands of Durbanville… Short of energy they’re not. In fact the Louw family and their team sometimes seem at risk of over-stretching themselves, regularly adding to the range and tweaking their strong
IN A SOMEWHAT quiet build-up, the names of the finalists in the Pinotage Association’s 2021 Absa Top 10 competition were disclosed via social media without so much as a tweet! Twenty wines from 16 producers – Beeslaar, Beyerskloof, Diemersdal and Rijk’s each making the cut with two of their beauties among the many entries from various parts of the Cape winelands.
RAISING THE BAR, six members of the Pinotage Association have teamed up to launch a collection of their finest – new ‘Grand Pinotage’ wines that sell by the case only, a bottle from each producer, for R9000 a case! Who would have thought that Kanonkop could offer something more exclusive than their Black Label, that Beyerskloof would come up with
THERE WERE PLENTY of regulars at the top of the SA Wine Classification included among the 20 finalists of the 2020 Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition, but by the time the trophy winners were announced only a few of the big-name producers were called to the podium. Good news for bargain hunters is that five of the winning wines are
REGULAR LAUREATES at the Pinotage Association’s annual Top 10 awards, Rijk’s of Tulbagh and Beyerskloof of Stellenbosch have fared particularly well again in 2020, each with more than one wine included among the 20 finalists announced by the Pinotage Association in advance of the trophy presentations. Begun almost a quarter of a century ago, the Absa Top 10 has grown
MYSTERY NO MORE! The maiden 2016 vintage was only released in the second-half of 2019, after having already earned accolades at local and international shows a year before. The 2017, which excelled at the 2019 Absa Top 10 awards, is only expected to go on sale in mid-2020. And at the time of writing, there was still no mention of Beyerskloof
SOMETIMES what the Pinotage specialists at Beyerskloof do is performed with very little fanfare. Towards the end of 2018, word got out that the Truters had added another label to their portfolio of wines made from Pinotage, either entirely or in part. The newcomer: Beyerskloof Winemakers Reserve – 2016 being the maiden vintage. But no mention of it on
A NUMBER of South Africa’s Top Pinotage cellars are represented among the 2019 Absa Top 10 Competition finalists. There are no surprises among the Top 20, with all of the producers having excelled before with previous vintages. Odds-on favourites to be called to the podium on 14 August? Beyerskloof, Kanonkop, Wildekrans… Most notable absentees? Rijk’s, Flagstone, Diemersfontein… That the Pinotage Association
IT’S NOT every year that they make a Steytler Pinotage at Kaapzicht: there was one in 2010, but not in 2011; one was made in 2012, but not in 2013, nor 2014; then came the 2015, but no 2016, and it will be a while before the 2017 vintage is released. This is a selection of the best they can
NOT FROM Stellenbosch or Tulbagh, nor from Bot River, Wellington, Paarl… Flagstone’s super-successful Pinotage is from vines on the farm of Anton Roos in the Waaihoek Mountains, one of the highest vineyards in the Breedekloof district of South Africa’s winelands – the place and the wine so astounding that Flagstone founder Bruce Jack was once ‘stumped’ for words! The first
THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the Absa Top 10 for 2018 served to reiterate a number of truths and trends: ‘old’ vines make for good wines; the more experience you have with the variety and the vineyards, the higher the likelihood of greatness in the bottle; while the benchmarks remain steadfast, those contesting the premier league have grown in number and location;
THE JUDGING is complete, preparations for the awards function at Cavalli Estate in Somerset West on 15 August are in full swing and wine lovers are looking forward to seeing which of their favourites among the Top 20 finalists are considered by the panel of experts to be the best of the best in the 2018 Absa Top 10. The Absa Top
