WHO HASN’T seen one of those wine bottle stickers denoting a Tim Atkin rating or award! The assessments by this British Master of Wine are conducted with full knowledge of whose wine it is and where it comes from, what vintage it is and how it was made – they are not ‘blind’ tastings, labels out of sight, and sometimes
Read moreWHEN THEY put it like that, it’s hard to swallow… that the “Top 10” Sauvignon Blanc wines of South Africa don’t include even one worthy of a top rating in their book (96+). “Inherently simple,” says Winemag editor Christian Eedes in the publication’s annual report on the category, sponsored by FSC Prescient. Not even the panel’s favourites among the most
Read more59 WINES from 49 producers were reviewed for Winemag’s 2023 Report on Cape Bordeaux Red Blends, i.e. combinations of two or more of the varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Delaire Graff’s Botmaskop of Stellenbosch came top in the tasting, although it was scored the same as Allée Bleue of Franschhoek and Constantia Glen – the
Read moreTHREE of the Top 10 in Winemag’s 2023 Prescient Pinotage Report from the same cellar, including one of the panel’s three absolute favourites and the best priced of the Top 10… You won’t see that again anytime soon! Congrat’s to the team at Windmeul Cellar in Paarl – especially for what they achieved with the 2021 vintage of their ‘standard’
Read more‘EXTRAORDINARY. Profound.’ That’s what the Winemag judges thought of Koelenhof Winery’s ‘Stellenbosch 1679’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 when reviewing it for the 2022 Prescient Report. The only wine among the 64 entries from 51 SA producers scored more than 95/100, it’s one of the 24 most highly rated Cape Cabs assessed by top panels locally and internationally during the past year
Read moreJUNE 2022: Richard Kershaw’s GPS Series Cape South Coast Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is celebrated as one of the most highly rated wines at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London. Two months later: the same beauty from the Master of Wine’s cellar in Elgin is the critics’ favourite in Winemag’s annual Prescient Sauvignon Blanc Report. The only other wine
Read more“CHENIN BLANC is famously versatile, and it would be wrong to say that any one style prevailed among the top performing wines,” said Winemag editor Christian Eedes in the 2022 Prescient Report, compiled after the assessment of 82 entries from 61 producers in the Cape winelands. “Chenin is South Africa’s most-planted grape, and it is amazing how well it works
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 moreMOST OF the South African wines assessed for Winemag’s 2021 Prescient Chardonnay Report were from grapes harvested in 2020, which the judges felt was “a slightly lesser vintage” relative to 2019 when it comes to this variety, “the wines not having the same fruit concentration”. Their absolute favourites of the 93 Chardonnays submitted by 67 producers were: from Stellenbosch cellars,
Read moreTHERE WERE 125 entries from various parts of the South African winelands submitted for Winemag’s 2021 Prescient Sauvignon Blanc Report. Most were unwooded, some were wooded and some comprised blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon (albeit that this isn’t always disclosed on the labels). And there were plenty that delighted the panel of tasters including Winemag editor Christian Eedes (chair),
Read more“SOUTH AFRICAN Syrah can no longer be neatly pigeonholed,” says Winemag editor Christian Eedes in the 2021 Prescient Shiraz Report. “Expect everything from delicate, very fine, to ultra-glossy, rich wines – and the Shiraz/Syrah distinction is no longer really a clue to what’s inside the bottle.” There were 96 entries from 75 producers located in various areas of the Cape
Read moreIT’S NOT OFTEN that the Winemag panel chaired by editor Christian Eedes rates anything higher than 95 on their 100-point scale, but do so they did after sniffing and sipping the 2020 Filly Chenin Blanc from Cavalli Estate on the foothills of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch. Described as ‘profound’, it was the judges’ favourite in a lineup of 90 wines
Read moreAS WINEMAG points out, there is no official definition for a ‘Cape White Blend’, but their proposal is that such wines, as opposed to the Bordeaux-style Semillon-and-Sauvignon-Blanc combos, can be made from any combination of varieties as long as they include a significant Chenin Blanc component, specifically more than 15% and less than 85%. Winemag editor Christian Eedes reasons that
Read moreACCORDING to Winemag’s 2020 Prescient Minority Report, the focus of the competition is on South African “wines from varieties whose respective total plantings do not exceed 2000ha… this is a chance for the more subordinate varieties to shine!” Catchy name, but talk about sticking your chin out! It wasn’t long before sombebody rushed to the defence of Cabernet Franc, commenting
Read moreTHE ODDS are stacked in favour of the top-rated Chardonnay in SA Winemag’s 2020 Prescient Report coming from either Elgin or Stellenbosch. The announcement of who and what got the nod was put on hold until an awards function at the end of the year, but of the Top 10 we’re told that four are from Elgin and five are
Read moreDE GRENDEL, Iona, Kershaw, Lothian, Shannon… The Top 10 in Winemag’s 2020 Prescient Pinot Noir Report include a number of vintages from South African cellars with a history of good reviews in this category, most of them WO Elgin. On the other hand, most of the notables absent from the report, let alone the Top 10, are associated with appellations in
Read moreIT’S UNFORTUNATE that Lievland Vineyards, also home of M·A·N Family Wines, is closed to the public. For the time being, that is. The renovations underway at this Stellenbosch property in the foothills of the Simonsberg might be completed in time for the 2020 festive season, but it could take until sometime in 2021 before wine lovers can visit the tasting
Read moreAT R94 A BOTTLE, ‘The Innocent’ Syrah 2018 from the Lammershoek (lambs’ corner) farm outside Malmesbury is the only wine among the Top 10 in Winemag’s 2020 Prescient Shiraz Report priced at under R100 – pulling off the same feat that its predecessor achieved in the publisher’s 2019 report on South African expressions of the variety. Two other standouts in
Read more“MERLOT SOMETIMES gets a bad rap for being sweetish, soft and nothing more,” says Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za editor and tasting panel chair. However, “the best examples are really luscious and velvety as only Merlot at its finest is able to be… Its crucial characteristic is not its flavour but its texture, which can be described in one word – smooth.
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
