Tag Archives: Thelema

SA Chardonnay goes down very well with IWC panel(s)

JUDGES at the 2023 International Wine Challenge in London were impressed by South African entries in a variety of classes, but the Chardonnay especially. Six of the 15 gold medals that went the way of Cape wine producers were for Chardonnay, with the 2021 vintage of Paul Cluver’s Seven Flags given 97 on the scorecard… Days after the names of

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Neil Ellis Chardonnay leads South African charge at IWC

NOW IN ITS 38th year, the International Wine Challenge (IWC) is one of the world’s most rigorous wine competitions. Every medal winner is assessed ‘blind’ on at least three separate occasions by a minimum of two panels of judges tasting together, and then again by two of the show’s co-chairs, who in 2022 comprised Tim Atkin MW, Sam Caporn MW,

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Banghoek cellars form new Stellenbosch wine route – unofficially for now

THERE ARE some who would like to change the name to Banhoek (without the ‘g’), but be that as it may. The valley in the eastern reaches of the Stellenbosch winelands comprises some top cellars and guesthouses that have banded together across the boundary lines which separate the wards of Banghoek and the Simonsberg on either side of the Helshoogte

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Kleine Zalze and Spier do it again in Sauvignon Blanc SA Top 10

  “THIS YEAR will be remembered as a world-class Top 10,” said Kleine Zalze winemaker RJ Botha, chairman of Sauvignon Blanc South Africa. There were 157 wines entered by 96 producers in the 2021 edition of the association’s competition, with four of the winning wines having achieved the feat before – from Kleine Zalze and Spier of Stellenbosch, Nitida of

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Sauvignon Blanc test match could suggest SA and NZ equally delicious

ON THE EVE of the 100th test match between the Springboks and the All Blacks, on a rugby field in Australia, came the news that the countries’ winemakers had all but shared the spoils in an encounter featuring some of their top Sauvignon Blancs. The overall winner was South Africa, however the two top-scoring wines were from New Zealand, namely

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Two beauties from Delaire Graff star in Winemag’s Chardonnay Report

THE 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

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New from room with a view… Thelema remains a wine route favourite

THELEMA has long been one of South Africa’s leading Cabernet Sauvignon producers and these days the focus at the top end of the pyramid is on a Bordeaux-style blend, the flagship ‘Rabelais’ being a Cab-driven partnership involving Petit Verdot. Of late, however, two of the Webb family’s other reds that have been grabbing attention are the Reserve Merlot from their

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UK wine writer and judge Tim Atkin MW showers praise on SA favourites

‘CONTROVERSIAL!’ The critic concedes as much. Whereas the results of panel tastings conducted ‘blind’ (labels out of sight) might be more objective and fair, Tim Atkin’s reviews are sighted, sometimes with the producers present. His rankings reflect his personal favourites. Nevertheless, as a British Master of Wine, one of the UK’s most respected wine writers, show judges and a regular

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SA Pinot Report includes some good reviews but leaves a hollow feeling

THE FOLKS at Creation on Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge must have mixed feelings about the award for Best Wine Overall in Winemag’s 2018 ‘Tonnellerie-Saint-Martin Pinot Noir Report’. A score of 93 points (out of 100) equates to an “outstanding” wine in the opinion of panellists Christian Eedes (chair), Roland Peens and James Pietersen (both of Cape Town retailer Wine Cellar), all respected judges.

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Thelema Rabelais top-scores in Winemag ‘Cape Bordeaux’ Blend Report

FOR THE third annual South African Bordeaux-Style Red Blend Report by Winemag.co.za, see here. There were 60 wines from 45 producers assessed by a panel comprising the website’s editor Christian Eedes (chair) with Roland Peens and James Pietersen of the Wine Cellar in Observatory, Cape Town. Twenty-five wines were rated 90-plus, with Thelema Rabelais 2013 emerging as the trio’s favourite

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Brand marketing part and parcel of Cape Wine Auction, Franschhoek

“IN A SPECTACULAR show of generosity and opulence…” the 2017 Cape Wine Auction set a new record for the annual fund-raising effort by generating R22.3 million for 22 charities that focus on education and the lives of children in the winelands of South Africa. This year the bidding took place at Anthonij Rupert Wyne in Franschhoek, where estate owner Johann

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Industry veteren Gyles Webb speaks about Thelema’s worst fire to date

An excerpt from a newsletter on the website of Thelema Mountain Vineyards, one of South Africa’s top wine farms on the Simonsberg mountain in Stellenbosch: “Fire is an obvious risk in our location and we try to prepare for this by sending our staff on fire-fighting courses, establishing fire breaks and getting water and fire hoses to the areas directly above

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Rustenberg’s flagship wines among the casualties of Stellenbosch fire

A MONTH AFTER the last flames to sweep over the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch had been extinguished, there were still no official reports as to the full extent of the damage and loss suffered on this special stretch of the Cape winelands. Thankfully there were no human casualties, but the fires were devastating, with farms in the path of the inferno left totting up the

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Most top SA Cabs from Stellenbosch – with Thelema among the best

WHEN a group of Stellenbosch (and Somerset West) wine producers collaborated to present a line-up of 20 Cabernet Sauvignons to media and industry folk on the occasion of the Cape Wine 2015 trade show, it was to be expected that Thelema would count among the beauties included in a tasting billed as the ‘Kingdom of Cabernet’. The Webb family’s Thelema Mountain

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South Africa’s Best Bubblies 2015 – Silverthorn grabbing plenty of attention, with Thelema among most high-profile newcomers

AT THE DAWN of the new millennium there were only 20 or so South African wineries producing sparkling wine according to the traditional or classic method for which the French are famous. Today there are over 100 cellars in the Cape making Cap Classique on a regular or occasional basis. The category has been booming, in part at least thanks

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Cape Point, Kleine Zalze and Nederburg among familiar names in South Africa’s latest Sauvignon Blanc Top 10

THE 2013 FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc Awards organised by the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group of South Africa again threw the spotlight on a number of wines regularly applauded as counting among the country’s best, as well as on some that have repeatedly vied for attention on the best-value scale.   WINNERS AT THE FNB SAUVIGNON BLANC AWARDS Alexanderfontein Chip

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Winter Wonderland! Cape winelands transformed after one of the heaviest snowfalls in years makes its mark

Thelema Mountain Vineyards, Helshoogte, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch Vergelegen, Helderberg, Somerset West Vineyard up the road from the Niewoudt’s Cederberg Private Cellar From Ken Forrester Vineyards: Avontuur Estate on the Helderberg, Somerset West Stark-Conde, Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch Boekenhoutskloof, Franschhoek Morgenster Estate, Helderberg, Somerset West Stellenrust, Stellenbosch Paul Cluver, Elgin

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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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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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Team SA dominates at Five Nations Challenge and yet…

Wine of Show at Five NationsChallenge 2012(R130 a bottle) WHAT ELSE must South Africa do to win the Five Nations Wine Challenge in Sydney?! The guys from the Western Cape dominated half a dozen or so of the 16 categories judged in 2012 and won five trophies including “Wine of Show” (top-scoring wine overall), yet it was competition host Australia

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