AS THE UPWARD pressure on wine prices increases, savvy bargain hunters know to look to top cellars’ second labels, up-and-coming producers outside the premier league, and cellars buying in grapes from far and wide, not constrained by the rules and regulations of ‘estate wine’ legislation. This was the focus in an article recently published by Independent Media’s Personal Finance magazine –
Read moreTHE MOST successful South African cellar at the 2019 Concours Mondial du Sauvignon was Delaire Graff of Stellenbosch, winning two gold medals (including one for a nine-year-old Sauvignon Blanc!), with Diemersdal of Durbanville, Strandveld outside Elim in Cape Agulhus, Kleine Zalze of Stellenbosch and Kroonpoort Vineyards also securing gold. 1010 wines from 26 countries were assessed by 73 judges from
Read moreASK ABOUT top SA Pinot Noir and the main signposts point to Elgin, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde… There are exceptions – chief among them Chamonix of Franschhoek – but typically it’s a case of Hamilton Russell, Bouchard Finlayson, Newton Johnson, Sumaridge, Oak Valley, Paul Cluver, Crystallum, Shannon… However, there’s now another cool-climate district putting up its hand, so to speak. The
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