Tag Archives: Cape

La Colombe at Silvermist judged best restaurant in Cape winelands

THE DINERS Club World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy has included La Colombe at Silvermist in Constantia among their Top 100 for 2016. At No. 76, according to the Academy, La Colombe is the top-ranked restaurant in the winelands of South Africa – second only to The Test Kitchen (ranked No. 22 in the world) at the Biscuit Mill in Woodstock as regards the best restaurants in

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After a sensational 2015, can Groot Constantia do it again in 2016 ?

THERE WERE a number of South African wineries that excelled in 2015 by way of good reviews, however none were more frequent visitors to the podium than the grande dame Groot Constantia – a property dating back to 1685 but which ranks right up there with the best in the modern era too. Winemaker Boela Gerber is very modest about his team’s achievements

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2015 Rosé Rocks Results: Tamboerskloof Katharien charms her way to the top

RANGING in colour from shocking pink to salmon and pale onion, Rosé can be made by blending red and white grapes, but mostly it’s made from red grapes whose skins are left on the must during fermentation – the juice is run off the skins soon after pressing and treated the same way as white wine, ranging from dry to sweet, and

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One for the books as victory in 2015 Cap Classique Challenge goes to Durbanville

A SURPRISING result, to say the least! The winner of the 2015 Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge contested by 114 bubblies comes from a farm better known for red wines, especially Pinotage, aromatic whites including Gewürztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc – and not forgetting the Italian variety Barbera. However, while Altydgedacht has been making sparklers from Chardonnay in the traditional way since 2008,

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Chocolate or charcuterie, nuts or nougat… Wine and food pairing options ‘exploding’

IT WASN’T that long ago when the edibles in a Cape winery’s tasting room were limited to water biscuits or cream crackers. Today, some of South Africa’s best restaurants are located alongside some of the country’s top cellars and matching wine with food at the cellar door extends to a variety of different experiences, some offered even where there aren’t complete meals to

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A mouthful of a wine: Boplaas Tawny crowned champion at Cape Port Challenge 2015

JUST WHEN you think you’ve heard about, seen or drunk every port-style fortified wine from Boplaas Family Vineyards in Calitzdorp, along comes another. And the point can be well made by way of their fine Tawny, which is rather topical of late. According to their pricelist and website, the Nel family is currently selling a non-vintage Boplaas Cape Tawny for R100

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Oldenburg and DeMorgenzon dazzle at International Wine Challenge, London

TEN YEARS ago Oldenburg Vineyards in Banghoek outside Stellenbosch en route to Franschhoek hadn’t yet bottled their first wine. Today they have a growing reputation for good Chenin, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, two of which have excelled at one of the world’s biggest wine shows, now in its 32nd year… Also stepping into the spotlight more than once at

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Stellenbosch pulls ahead of Franschhoek in battle for status of SA winelands gourmet capital – that’s according to the 2015 editions of the leading restaurant guides

THE RESTAURANT critics are largely in agreement… The top dining venue in South Africa for 2014 is The Test Kitchen at The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town, with Luke Dale-Roberts the chef-owner and Wayve Kolevsohn the somellier: third Restaurant of the Year accolade at the 2014 Eat Out Mercedes Benz Awards, 5 Stars at the 2014 Rossouw’s Diners Club Awards, one

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New contenders for bragging rights among South Africa’s top wines from Pinot Noir include a trio from Cape Agulhas

ASK 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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Elim… hardly top of mind as regards most things hedonistic but right up there for top South African cool-climate wines

IT CAN BE VERY WET  around Elim in the Cape Agulhas district of the SA winelands. In winter, the rainfall is such that some of the roads may be closed, access is limited and the landscape is characterised by wetlands and wind… It blows in the summer too and, with much of the wind coming in from across the ocean, the

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Calitzdorp retains the title of SA port champion but Boplaas and De Krans face growing number of serious challengers

WELL WOULD YOU look at that! While the trophy winner at this year’s CAPPA Port Challenge is again from Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo, three of the six gold medal-winning producers are not from the ‘Port Capital’ of South Africa! Besides the Cape champion and runner-up overall from Boplaas, a wine from De Krans and another from Peter Bayly (all of Calitzdorp), two of

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French go down to South Africa in their own back yard with four Cape wines among Top 10 at Syrah du Monde, Rhône

THERE WERE raised eyebrows among the Francophiles when results of the eighth Syrah du Monde were announced in the northern Rhône, France. The judges reviewed 405 wines from 26 countries and at the end of three days there were four South Africans among the Top 10, versus two from France. And in their own back yard! Ooh la la!!  

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Tulbagh’s crown prince? Saronsberg marks 10 years of winemaking with entry into Top Wine SA Hall of Fame

THE TULBAGH WINES with the best track records over the past 10 years stand out as follows – all regular recipients of good reviews by top judges internationally: TOP REDS PINOTAGE – Rijk’s, Manley, Klein Tulbagh SHIRAZ – Saronsberg, Rijk’s, Saronsberg Provenance RED BLENDS – Saronsberg Full Circle, Saronsberg Seismic, Saronsberg Provenance Rooi TOP WHITES CHENIN BLANC – Rijk’s VIOGNIER – Saronsberg WHITE BLEND – Fable

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Diemersdal and Hartenberg among stand-out names in the 2014 SA Wine and Cellar Classifications – Top Wine SA

SOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications based on the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years feature eight new inclusions among the Top 100 Cellars: De Morgenzon, Laborie Wine Estate, Newton Johnson Family Vineyards, Nitida Cellars, Quoin Rock Winery, Rall Wines, Reyneke Wines and Van Loveren. However the majority of the

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Constantia’s come a long way since the 1600s with plenty of dry whites and reds as good as the sweets these days

NOTWITHSTANDING Commander Jan van Riebeeck’s modest vineyards first in the Dutch government’s gardens up the road from the castle and then in Bishopscourt and Wynberg, it was in Constantia that South Africa’s wine industry really got going… History books have it that the first wine for which Van Riebeeck claimed credit was made in the 1650s but that the country’s

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Very few Cape Winemakers Guild members associated with cellars that aren’t among South Afica’s very best

FOR SOME the annual Cape Winemakers Guild Auction is an opportunity to acquire some of what amounts to the best tanks or barrels before they’re combined with others nearly as good for sale in commercial quantities. For others it’s a chance to get one or more of the special cuvées from top cellars, wines made in tiny quantities, sometimes very unique,

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Festival time in South Africa’s Port Capital: 14 to 17 June

The sort of weather to expect in Calitzdorp this weekend – although the Boplaas vineyard pictured above is bound to look rather different in the middle of winter BOPLAAS, De Krans and TTT Cellar are among THE wineries to head for during the next few days if you fancy a drive through the Karoo, wine that’ll warm the heart and

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Best Riesling – unusual delights from top Cape cellars

IT SEEMS LIKE only yesterday that you could count the number of South Africa’s good Rieslings on a few fingers and that the labels of these wines were so much more confusing than they are today. Shame on the producers – including Theuniskraal and Van Loveren – who persist in calling wines what they’re not, namely ‘Cape Riesling’ instead of

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