STARK-CONDÉ. In the Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch. On the Oude Nektar farm, to the south-east of the town. Home to one of South Africa’s most highly rated white blends, a Sauvignon Blanc of note, a fine Cabernet Sauvignon and then some. Among the recommendations at their Postcard Café: either chicken piccata (R145pp) or lightly-cured hake (R195pp) served with the Field Blend
ODDLY ENOUGH, not all of the cellars in Wellington are members of the local wine route. Not officially, that is. For example, Mischa Estate to the north and Napier Vineyards on the Bainskloof Road to the east are not part of the ‘Go Wellington‘ movement. Nor is Roodekrantz north-west of the town, though perhaps they’re considered more Swartland than Wellington.
CONSTANTIA GLEN. Down the main road from the Constantia Nek traffic circle for those travelling via Hout Bay or Bishop’s Court / Newlands in Cape Town. Home to some of South Africa’s most highly rated blends – white and red – over the past 10 years, as well as a decent restaurant. The Constantia Glen TWO white blend (R100pg) is
BEYERSKLOOF. Stellenbosch. Just outside the town on the R304 to the N1. Home to some of South Africa’s most highly rated Pinotages and Cape Blends over the past 10 years, as well as the Red Leaf Bistro. The Pinotage Burger goes for R155, the Pinotage Pizza for R165, perhaps accompanied by the Pinotage Reserve or the Traildust Cape Blend at
BEAUMONT. Bot River. Just off the N2 between Elgin/Houhoek and Caledon. Home to one of the most highly rated South African Chenins over the past 10 years. Recommended with Hot Smoked Trout (R160pp) or an interesting salad (R85) at their Zest Deli – R110 for a glass of the Hope Marguerite Chenin, R45 for their standard Chenin Blanc. Or perhaps
THERE ARE wine lovers who are obsessed with pecking orders, rankings, insisting on there being one that is best overall, numero uno. Others, while no less discerning, are relaxed about there being a number of top wines, levels of interest value, degrees of greatness – that when it comes to the best there can be more than one, i.e. somewhat
LESS THAN R100 a bottle for one of the most consistently highly rated wines over the past 10 years might seem impossible, and yet… While the majority of the 132 Best of The Best in the 2024 South African Wine Classification are priced at over R350 a bottle with 40+ over R500pb, there are 22 at under R250 (see below),
SOUTH AFRICA’S top wines over the past 10 years – as judged by the top panels of experts around the world. An update of the best from the Cape winelands – not just with a single bottling, but time and again. Good to very good reviews for numerous vintages, labels out of sight – assessed purely according to quality and
IT’S AMAZING that there are any highly rated wines available at under R100 a bottle these days, and yet… MOST HIGHLY RATED < R100 Bon Courage Unwooded Chardonnay 2022 Gold Medal at Trophy Wine Show (SA) R83pb ex-cellar, Robertson KWV Cathedral Cellar Sauvignon Blanc 2022 Gold Medal at Trophy Wine Show (SA) R99PB ex-cellar, Paarl Land’s End Cape South Coast
THERE ARE over 150 farms in Stellenbosch where you are welcome to taste and buy some wine from a cellar on the premises. Of these, around 70 also offer food, either by way of a restaurant or platters of this and that, some of which entail ordering in advance. So which are the best farms to visit in this beautiful
2023 South African Wine & Classifications, the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame. Wines of the Cape with the best track records over the past 10 years, as rated by the top panels over the past 10 years.
USED TO BE that Chateau Libertas from SFW/Distell represented many a South African wine lover’s staple red. That and the likes of a Groot Constantia dry red and KWV Roodeberg, if you could get it, Douglas Green St Augustine if you couldn’t. The sort of red you might graduate to after Tassenberg, before going on to, say, Alto Rouge or
SURELY EVERY wine lover is familiar with a magnum, twice the size of a standard 750ml bottle, but when last did anybody put a 6L methusalah on their table? Many of us would not be comfortable pouring wine from an 18L melchior or solomon bottle weighing over 30kg, let alone a primat, with the 27L goliath tipping the scales at
A SOUTH AFRICAN wine producer got in touch to voice his discontent regarding the critics, the show judges, locally and internationally… How is it possible that Merlot makes such a high percentage of the red wine bought in this country yet there are not many brands that qualify for the SA Wine Classification. The producer preferred not to be
TOP WINE SA Hall of Fame, one of the Top 100 in the 2022 SA Wine Classification, among South Africa’s Top 10 white blends and one of the country’s Wines of the Year in 2021. The barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc Semillon combo from Cape Point Vineyards, the “world class winery by the sea” in Noordhoek, owned by Sybrand van der Spuy and with
THE NUMBERS go some way to painting the picture! Fifteen of South Africa’s Top 20 Cabs are from Stellenbosch. Cabernet Sauvignon, that is. Ten of the country’s Top 20 wines from Pinotage are WO Stellenbosch. Eleven of the Top 20 Red Blends. Also, 11 of the Top 20 Chenins are from here, and nine of the Top 20 Chardonnays.
IT’S ARGUABLE THAT you can’t really call this a wine route. Many of the top cellars operate quite independently, many require you to make an appointment in advance of visiting and some are not keen on dealing directly with the general public on a daily basis. One of the exceptions is AA Badenhorst, where they also offer lunch and
SAUVIGNON BLANC territory… But they also offer a range of fine wines using different varieties, of course. Particularly in the case of Diemersdal and De Grendel, which might be associated with other estates on this wine route but is around the corner from Durbanville Hills in Panorama – and which also stands out for making some of their finest
CHARDONNAY and bubbly are what come to mind for many when contemplating the cellars of the Robertson Wine Valley. But they also offer good reds, and sweet pleasures too. See below for the top wineries in the area and what they’re best at. For the names of exactly which wines from the area have the best track records, see
FROM THE FOOTHILLS of Paarl Rock Mountain to the Simonsberg, Voor Paardeberg and beyond, this is a wine route encompassing some of South Africa’s biggest cellars as well as some of its smallest. Babylonstoren, Fairview and Spice Route are among the most popular tourist destinations in this district where the boundary lines separating Paarl from Franschhoek and Stellenbosch can
