Tag Archives: Bordeaux-style

Did Warwick take it, or Zorgvliet perhaps… Bordeaux-Style Blend Report

ACCORDING to the buying guide / cellar-door prices for the panel’s favourites in Winemag’s 2020 Prescient Cape Bordeaux Red Blend Report, Org de Rac of Piketberg in the Swartland could have fielded the best-value entry in the competition at R250 a bottle. On the other hand, the publishers chose to front the report with a scenic image of Warwick among

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Six Nations trophies for SA Sauvignon Blanc and Bordeaux-Style Blend

FOR THE annual Six Nations Wine Challenge staged in Sydney, Australia, entries are submitted following an invitation to the producers from the wine writer and judge representing each of the participating countries. In 2019 the panel of critics comprised South Africa’s Michael Fridjhon (chair), Australia’s Huon Hooke, New Zealand’s Terry Copeland, the USA’s Patrick Comiskey and Canada’s Christopher Waters. Each

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Cape Point Isliedh 2017 as highly regarded as every vintage before it

WITH THE possible exception of the 2014 vintage, Cape Point Vineyards’ flagship white blend Isliedh hasn’t missed a beat: among the Top 10 of its kind in the SA Wine Classification, one of South Africa’s Top 100 wines over the past 10 years, included in the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame and, at the time of writing, just voted

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Morgenster trophy laureate promises even more if we can bear to wait

THE LATE Giulio Bertrand established a tradition at his Morgenster wine and olive farm in Somerset West of releasing Bordeaux-style reds only when they have had the benefits of ageing, although he and his winemakers weren’t averse to strutting the qualities of their beauties in their youth, too. So it is again with the 2014 Estate Reserve, a small quantity of

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Tokara Telos the ultimate expression of terroir and all things hedonistic

OF THE TOP 50 cellars in South Africa with super-premium, luxury red wines presented as their numero uno at thousands of rand per bottle, there’s the Rijk’s 888 Gold Pinotage at R1100, Mvemve Raats De Compostella blend at R1150, the Hanneli R blend from La Motte at R1200, Vergelegen V Cabernet Sauvignon at R1395, The Garland Cabernet Sauvignon from Simonsig at

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Thelema Rabelais top-scores in Winemag ‘Cape Bordeaux’ Blend Report

FOR THE third annual South African Bordeaux-Style Red Blend Report by Winemag.co.za, see here. There were 60 wines from 45 producers assessed by a panel comprising the website’s editor Christian Eedes (chair) with Roland Peens and James Pietersen of the Wine Cellar in Observatory, Cape Town. Twenty-five wines were rated 90-plus, with Thelema Rabelais 2013 emerging as the trio’s favourite

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White Hot Wine Awards point to frustrating quest for the ‘perfect’ blend

WHAT TO make of Winemag.co.za’s 2016 Riscura White Hot Wine Awards? Of the 35 entries from nearly as many of the Cape wine cellars blending Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, none scored lower than 86/100 (very good) despite some being criticised as clumsy, “planky”. That 15 scored 90-plus out of 100 (excellent to outstanding) was a solid endorsement of the quality and interest value

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Less and less low-profile… Eikendal releases 2013 vintage of its ‘icon’ red Classique

EIKENDAL’S latest releases of their so-called ícon wines – the 2014 Chardonnay at R127 pb and the 2013 red blend Classique at R223 pb – promise much. Such are the good track records of these wines that it’s amazing to some that the Stellenbosch property still has a low profile relative to many of the other Top 50 wine cellars in South Africa. It was

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Mulderbosch puts its hand up for a place among South Africa’s top notch white blends

THE 2013, white version of Faithful Hound from Stellenbosch winery Mulderbosch was the top-scoring wine in the 2015 ‘Riscura White Hot Wine Awards’ staged by Winemag.co.za. The ‘Hound’ was made from Franschhoek Semillon and Elgin Sauvignon Blanc, with a couple of 100% Elgin entries – Oak Valley Mountain Reserve 2011 and Highlands Road Sine Cera 2013 – also excelling in this competition

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Dombeya and Diemersdal the value champs at Winemag’s inaugural Red Hot Awards

THE RESULTS of Winemag.co.za’s Riscura ‘Red Hot Wine Awards’ confirmed the good credentials of numerous Bordeaux-style blends from the Cape – including a couple priced at around a third of what the top-rated wines are going for and a helluva lot less than the winner of the competition. In the final taste-off the honours went to the Mvemve Raats de Compostella

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