FOR AN UPDATE of all the organic wines produced in South Africa that are officially certified as such, click here. Below are those from the Cape that received good to very good reviews from the top panels of experts in 2023. There are numerous winemakers and viticulturists who adhere to organic or biodynamic methods in the vineyard and cellar but
Read moreWHAT TO MAKE of the inaugural Top 10 Merlot Competition organised by the South African Merlot Forum, an industry association whose members include over 40 wine farms. 71 entries from the various districts around the Cape winelands. Not bad, considering it’s the first edition of this challenge, but a way to go given that there are in excess of
Read more“THE BEST Shiraz is nothing if not peppery and many will have quite grippy tannins as a result of whole-bunch fermentation… Shiraz is for those who aren’t afraid of some flavour intensity.” So says Winemag editor Christian Eedes, who chaired the panel tasting of 99 South African wines from 82 producers submitted for the 2022 Prescient Shiraz Report. Also on
Read moreACCORDING 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
Read more“PERHAPS the ‘Cape Blend’ is simply a concept that has run out of time” – Winemag’s Christian Eedes, commenting on the poor showing and no-shows by Pinotage-driven combos for the publication’s 2019 Signature Red Blend Report. Perhaps what many Cape Blend producers have a problem with is the random nature of this competition whereby almost anything goes – apart from
Read moreTHEY CONCEDE that it was challenging for the panel to review a line-up of very different red blends, some Shiraz-led, Cape Blends in which Pinotage dominated, some including more than half a dozen component varieties, others made from grapes usually grown for making port-style wines, etc. But Christian Eedes, chairman of the judges including Roland Peens and James Pietersen of
Read moreTHE 2017 Winemag Report on SA Merlot involved the assessment of 67 wines from 50 producers and culminated in five wines rated 90-plus (see below). Published in association with the industry’s producer body that goes by the name of the Merlot Forum, the full report posted on Winemag.co.za states that: “Local Merlot often makes for less ambitious and less expensive wines
Read moreONE OF THE annual wine competitions viewed with scepticism in some quarters culminates in South Africa’s Green Wine Awards… Ducks, chickens and cows in the vineyards, horses instead of tractors, natural winemaking and minimal intervention as regards fertiliser and pest control, organically-grown grapes and biodynamic farming principles… All very eco-friendly, but surely the idea should be to come up with wines that
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