Tag Archives: De Wetshof

Glen Carlou ranks among Top 10 at Chardonnay du Monde, Burgundy

SOUTH AFRICA achieved three gold medals at the 2024 edition of Chardonnay du Monde in Burgundy, France, with one of the winning wines – the 2023 vintage of Glen Carlou’s wooded version – ranked among the Top 10. WO Paarl, R190pb ex-cellar! Some 200 wine experts from around the world were involved in the judging of 579 entries comprising various

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A number of top SA wine cellars boycott Platter’s 2024 guide

IT’S RIDICULOUS! A number of top winery proprietors or cellarmasters in the Cape winelands turned down the invitation to be listed in Platter’s 2024 South African Wine Guide. In this the 44th edition of the book, the printed version of which finally went on sale more than a month after the top ratings therein were divulged online, you can read

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South Africa’s standout Rosés on the increase, but let’s keep it real

THE 2023 vintage of Riebeek Cellars Pinotage Rosé was judged the overall winner in the 2023 edition of Rosé Rocks, a competition focused on South Africa’s ‘pink’ wines – Rosé and Blanc de Noir, still and sparkling, sweet and dry. Unfortunately, the conveners don’t divulge the Top 3, Top 6, Top 10 or Top 12, and we aren’t given the

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South Africa’s most highly rated Chardonnays in 2022 to date

NOT A SINGLE Chardonnay considered better than 94/100 in Winemag’s 2022 Prescient Report on the category in South Africa? In the collective opinion of editor Christian Eedes and his fellow judges on the panel, James Pietersen and Jolette Steyn of retailer Wine Cellar in Cape Town, there weren’t any ‘extraordinary’ or ‘profound’ examples among the 80 wines from the 59

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Ken Forrester Chenin Best in Show at World Wine Awards 2022

THE DECANTER World Wine Awards in the UK are mega. 18 244 entries in 2022, a world record as international wine competitions go. Judged over two weeks, with the various panels comprising some 250 experts including more than 41 Masters of Wine and 13 Master Sommeliers. 8074 bronze medals awarded, 5900 silvers, 676 golds, 165 platinum medals and 50 wines

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De Wetshof among Top 10 at Chardonnay du Monde… Again!

  PRETTY NEAT! In 2021 they did it with their Finesse 2020. In 2022 they’ve done it with their Bateleur 2020. One of the Top 10 gold medallists at Chardonnay du Monde two years in succession. Up against top producers from around the world, and in Burgundy, France. Go De Wetshof! Go Robertson! There were 546 entries from 32 countries,

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Only one South African in US Wine Spectator’s Top 100 in 2021? Please!

WHAT RUBBISH! Wine Spectator, the biggest and some say the most influential magazine cum online publication for wine lovers in the USA names its Top 100 for 2021 and ONLY ONE of them is from South Africa: De Wetshof Bon Vallon Chardonnay 2020. Incredible! Although better than the zero in 2019… and in 2020 there were only three: Glenelley Estate Chardonny

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Bon Vallon Chardonnay does it again – again without a stave in sight

THE QUALITY and interest value of Chardonnay that has never seen the inside of a barrel is streets ahead of what it was at the turn of the century, but still! Who would have predicted that it had risen to the level that it could triumph over wooded masterpieces on the world stage. To quote the organisers of Chardonnay du

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De Wetshof top of the chart at 2019 Chardonnay du Monde, France

A GOOD YEAR it was for South Africa at the 2019 edition of Chardonnay du Monde, an international competition that takes place every year in Burgundy, France. After three days of judging, involving 696 wines from 36 countries assessed by 300 experts from around the world, the 2018 Bon Vallon from De Wetshof Estate in Robertson topped the list of

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Top honours at NWC go to Spier, Paul Cluver, Stellenbosch Vyds, Nuy

THERE WERE around 600 wines judged at South Africa’s National Wine Challenge 2018 convened by Robin von Holdt’s Buybetterwine.com. The judges comprised chairman Greg Sherwood (UK Master of Wine), Ginette de Fleuriot (Cape Wine Master), sommelier Wayve Kolvesohn, with winemakers Duncan Savage, Matthew Day of Klein Constantia, Richard Kershaw (Master of Wine) and JD Pretorius of Steenberg. Sommelier Higgo Jacobs was

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Top 10 wine producers in Robertson – home of the Hands-On Harvest festival, Wine on the River, Wacky Wine Weekend

THE MOST successful wine outfits in and around the town of Robertson in a district that also encompasses Ashton, Bonnievale and McGregor, tend to be those close to the Breede River. And Robertson’s Top 10 producers according to track records spanning the 10 years 2005 to 2014 include some of South Africa’s leading bubbly producers as well as cellars with good

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South Africa’s top Pinot Noir ratings in 2013 and the best Pinot Noir at under R150 a bottle – the experts’ choice

TOP SA PINOT NOIR in 2013… The following wines achieved outstanding reviews from top panels judging ‘blind’: TOP SOUTH AFRICAN PINOT NOIR RATINGS IN 2013 Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak 2011 – 4½ Stars in Platter’s Guide Chamonix Reserve 2011 – Trophy at Classic Wine Trophy Competition Chamonix Reserve 2012 – Double Gold Medal at Six Nations Wine Challenge, 4½ Stars in Platter’s

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10 of South Africa’s top Rieslings on show at Hartenberg

SOME OF THE big names will be missing at Hartenberg’s ‘Riesling Rocks’ festival this Saturday afternoon (9 Feb), but hey, you can be sure of a great day… Delectable snacking and sipping on the lawns of the estate off the Bottelary Road (M23) in Stellenbosch – an opportunity to explore Riesling’s reputation as a particularly versatile variety when it comes to

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Top SA wine producers provide a happier place all round

WITH SOUTH AFRICA’S 2013 wine grape harvest fast approaching, many farmers are re-assessing their cost structures and modus operandi in the wake of wage demands that turned ugly. The following was first published in the Cape Argus newspaper last week…   * * * * * Published in the Cape Argus on 18 January 2013 As the smoke clears following the

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Experts’ choice: South Africa’s top Chardonnay in 2012

THE STAND-OUT Chardonnays from South Africa, the best reviews of the year – from particularly good value wines courtesy of Durbanville Hills and Douglas Green Bellingham to beauties from De Wetshof, Hamilton Russell, Jordan, Mulderbosch, Paul Cluver, Sumaridge, Tokara, Uva Mira and others that have wowed the critics again and again: Almenkerk 2011 – gold medal at Decanter Awards, 4½ Stars in Christian Eedes

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Top 10 SA Chardonnay wines at under R70 per bottle

GREAT VALUE Chardonnays – South African wines selling for less than R70 a bottle that have been recommended by one or more of the top tasting panels around the world during the past 18 months. Prices given in SA rand – ex-cellar, or approximate retail in cases where the winery is closed to the public. At R33pb – Drostdy-Hof Chardonnay 2010

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