IT WAS MADE to enjoy when dining on fish, and served chilled, poured at 12°C or so as per most white wines, although it’s not… The 2021 vintage of red Grenache under the Donkiesbaai label is one of half a dozen or so South African bottlings from the variety very highly rated by panels of experts in 2023 – this
Read moreJUST R100 to taste SEVEN current releases at one of THE leading wine estates in South Africa. In fact, there’s no charge to sample these wines if you’re buying a bottle to take home, with a second-label red going for just R135pb, the 2023 rosé less than R100. The top wines from this cellar sell for over R500pb, with the
Read moreSOME AWARDS carry more weight than others, and there’s something to be said for a wine that ticks the boxes for a number of top tasting panels. Over 1500 South African wines were highly rated around the world in 2021, and the following are the red wines among them that received the most glowing reviews of the year – Cabernet
Read moreTHERE ARE STILL a number of Cape Blend sceptics and naysayers. Apparently they don’t know what they’re missing, or don’t know better! Various expressions of Pinotage are enjoyed by wine connoisseurs around the world, and many of the cognoscenti are as enthusiastic about the red blends in which the SA-born variety plays a pivotal role – a minimum of
Read moreSOUTH AFRICA’S best value red wines at under R70 a bottle from the cellar door as rated in 2014 & 2013, with the vintages that received two or more good reviews from expert tasting panels locally or internationally underscored. TOP SA CABERNET SAUVIGNON UNDER R70 A Few Good Men Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (Riebeek Cellars) Brampton Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 Cronier Estienne
Read moreTULBAGH is one of those places on the way to nowhere really, a destination in itself, tucked away between the Obiqua, Winterhoek and Witzenberg mountains. Named after a former Dutch governor of the Cape, Rijk Tulbagh, the town is accessed via Malmesbury or Piketberg off the N7 and via Wellington or Worcester off the N1. It includes some lovely countryside, is popular
Read moreWHAT THE inaugural RE:CM 10 Year Old Wine Awards did not do was to confirm what many believe to be true, namely that all red wine improves with age. Because, of course, it’s not true. What the taste-off did serve to do was to highlight a whole bunch of wines that have withstood the test of time, gone the distance
Read moreFOLLOWING the recent announcement of South Africa’s benchmarks in terms of the latest SA Wine Classification and with the full 2013 Classifications carried on the Top Wine SA website, here are the highlights of the 2013 SA Cellar Classification – see below, given in alphabetical order. TOP 20 SA WHITE WINE CELLARS – 2013 CLASSIFICATION Bergkelder (Fleur du Cap) Cape Point
Read more
