AFTER three days of judging 374 wines from 23 countries, the judges at Syrah du Monde 2016 in the northern Rhône Valley of France awarded 124 medals – 35 golds, including five to South African wine producers, and 89 silvers, 11 to cellars in the Cape. And of the gold medallists, two South African wines went on to be selected among
Read moreAT THE 2016 edition of the International Wine Challenge in London following weeks of blind tastings that involved thousands of entries from around the globe, South Africa’s top trophy winners included Tokara on the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch, Saronsberg of Tulbagh and Nederburg of Paarl for the entries judged Best SA White, Best SA Red and Best SA Sweet respectively, as well as DeMorgenzon
Read moreTHERE ARE some stretches along the beautiful wine routes of Stellenbosch that offer a better hit-rate than others for those in search of the best – strips of road with members of the Top 100 ‘club’ on either side in the sort of concentration that makes it possible to visit several within an hour or two without breaking the speed limit. Off the R44 to Somerset
Read moreTHE GREAT value of Kleine Zalze‘s Cellar Selection range was highlighted yet again with the announcement of the 2016 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles competition results in which the Stellenbosch winery’s 2015 unwooded Chardonnay at just R52 a bottle from the farm earned one of the three ‘grand gold’ medals awarded to South African wines – the others being a 2015
Read moreGOODBYE to Pheasants’ Run Sauvignon Blanc, hasta la vista Bowed Head Chenin Blanc, The Ridge Syrah, Coffeestone Cabernet and then some – at least under the Graham Beck banner, that is! In a brand rationalisation that will see everything without a bubble stripped from the range, Robertson’s leading sparkling wine producer and one of South Africa’s top three Méthode Cap Classique
Read moreAT THE 2015 Global Pinot Noir Masters staged by The Drinks Business in the UK, Bouchard Finlayson’s Tête de Cuvée Galpin Peak 2012 from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside Hermanus and David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner 2013 from the Cederberg Private Cellar won gold medals, with silvers going to the 2013 Galpin Peak, Finlayson’s neighbour Hamilton Russell for their 2013 vintage, Domaine
Read moreTHE BRITISH Masters of Wine on the tasting panels of leading UK trade publication The Drinks Business included a number of South African wines among the laureates applauded in the 2015/16 Global Chardonnay Masters, Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters and Global Cabernet Sauvignon Masters competition results announced recently. Chief among them was the 2014 vintage of The Single Tree Chardonnay from Uva Mira Mountain Vineyards
Read more“PINOTAGE has the heart of a lion and the tongue of a woman; after drinking a certain quantity you can talk forever and fight like the devil!” – Anonymous. More memorable wine quotes here. The Top 10 Pinotage in terms of South African wines with the best track records over the past 10 years (2006 – 2015) are the following: Beyerskloof
Read more“I only drink Champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty” – Lily Bollinger (1899 – 1977), proprietor of French Champagne house
Read moreTHE TOP 10 Shiraz, as regards South African wines with the best track records over the 10 years 2006 to 2015, come from just as many different appellations: Boekenhoutskloof Syrah – Franschhoek cellar, Wellington & Swartland fruit, 2013 at R400 pb Bon Courage Inkará Shiraz – Robertson, 2013 at R155 pb Cederberg Shiraz – Cederberg, 2014 at R190 pb Cirrus Syrah (Guardian Peak) –
Read moreLOVELY Chenin. Some age on it. Characterful. Everything the producer promises on the back-label: “… pear upfront, followed by dried peaches, finishing with lingering tastes of roasted almonds and honey.” Rich and ripe from the moment you put your nose to the glass. And at R75 a bottle from the cellar, Doran Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2013 lives up to
Read moreENCHANTED it is. There’s nothing else like it in the winelands of the Cape. A boardwalk alongside a stream through a forest on the farm Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek, meandering this way and that between some wonderful trees that include Cape holly, wild almond and white alder, African red alder, white poplar and English oak. There is also some Cape Beech (Boekenhout) that the
Read moreAT THE 2016 Chardonnay du Monde held at Château des Ravatys of the Pasteur Institute at Saint Lager in the Burgundy region of France, 15 South African wines placed among the 259 wines to win a medal. Of the 782 entries from over 30 countries around the world, Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Chardonnay from the 2015 vintage was the only SA representative included among
Read moreTHOUGH denied a trophy, three of South Africa’s classified Sauvignon Blancs triumphed with gold medals and another five were among seven SA silver medallists at the international 2016 Concours Mondial du Sauvignon taste-off hosted in Tordesillas, Spain. Leading the medal charge for the Cape were Ghost Corner 2015 from David Nieuwoudt’s cellar in the Cederberg using grapes from Cape Agulhas, one
Read moreIN WHAT AMOUNTS to a closing-down sale running until the end of March, the prices of everything at the Winters Drift shop next to the Elgin railway station east of Grabouw were slashed by 35% following a decision of the powers that be to cull the brand and to replace the vineyards with orchards – apples and pears. Apparently the wine side
Read moreAn excerpt from a newsletter on the website of Thelema Mountain Vineyards, one of South Africa’s top wine farms on the Simonsberg mountain in Stellenbosch: “Fire is an obvious risk in our location and we try to prepare for this by sending our staff on fire-fighting courses, establishing fire breaks and getting water and fire hoses to the areas directly above
Read moreA MONTH AFTER the last flames to sweep over the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch had been extinguished, there were still no official reports as to the full extent of the damage and loss suffered on this special stretch of the Cape winelands. Thankfully there were no human casualties, but the fires were devastating, with farms in the path of the inferno left totting up the
Read moreOF COURSE, the R15-million raised for various charities thanks to the third AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction – this time at Klein Constantia – was laudable. A worthy cause, for sure: education of the needy in the Cape winelands. But the annual fundraiser also points to hedonistic stuff, highlighting decadent things enjoyed by those fortunate or deserving enough to indulge in the ultimate taste
Read moreWHICH ARE THE TOP wineries in South Africa? The best overall – the Top 20 producers, say? Such a selection cannot be without some controversy, largely because it depends on how you measure the leading cellars, and when. Do you consider the top label, a single wine from each cellar, or should we look at everything they produce, or maybe something in
Read moreTHE SA Wine & Cellar Classifications point to the current ‘who’s who’ of the South African winelands – all of the top wines and cellars over the past 10 years, including the very best in each class. Ten years’ tasting results, the best track records, involving the TOP TASTING PANELS, local and international – a pooling of expert opinions about South
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