Tag Archives: winemag

Sadie Family in the limelight again, and again, and again…

AS IF it had been stage-managed! Just over a week after The Sadie Family was lauded for the umpteenth time as South Africa’s top cellar in the 2024 edition of Platter’s guide, the results of a poll conducted by Winemag.co.za and then of an auction by Strauss & Co served to confirm the status of the country’s No. 1 –

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Winemag unimpressed by Cape Sauvignon Blanc – Prescient Report

WHEN 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

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Three 95-point ratings in Cape Bordeaux Red Blend Report

59 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

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Lots to like! Winemag Pinotage Report makes welcome comeback

THREE 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’

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South Africa’s most highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon in 2022

‘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

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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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Bellingham Old Vine Chenin continues good run of form × 2

FOR DECADES the top white wine in DGB’s premium Bellingham range was labelled The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc: WO Coastal Region, with grapes from Bottelary in Stellenbosch playing the leading role. Come 2020, a single-vineyard version was released, 2018 being the maiden vintage, the fruit from Durbanville plantings dating back to 1983 and with the front label proclaiming

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Whitehall Chardonnay has aficionados smiling internationally

THE 2020 VINTAGE of Neil Ellis’s Whitehall Chardonnay had only been on the market for a few months when it was included among the Top 4 in Winemag‘s 2021 South African Chardonnay Report. By the end of the year it had been Highly Recommended in Platter‘s SA Wine Guide, and after some more time in bottle it was considered 95+ on

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Winemag panel favours Bernard Series above 81 other Chenins

“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

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Eenzaamheid and Wildeberg excel in SA Shiraz Report

“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

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Decanter critics loving Pinotage, Winemag brains trust not so much

  THE “SECOND EVER” panel-tasting of Pinotage by Decanter in the UK was described by judge Greg Sherwood MW as “a huge success”, with the results published in the Feb 2022 issue of the magazine. It had been over 20 years since the publishers last reviewed this class of red wines in such a focused manner and the jury praised

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Vergelegen, DeMorgenzon and Cavalli star in Winemag’s so-called Top 20

WHAT TO LIKE about Winemag‘s pick of South Africa’s ‘Top 20 Wines’ in 2021, ‘The Best Wines in South Africa’ and their choice of ‘Winery of the Year’? Well, good to see Vergelegen in the spotlight again: top estate, veteran winemaker, impressive track record. Interesting to see what Winemag rated most highly: Cavalli Filly Chenin Blanc 2020 and DeMorgenzon Maestro

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Winemag Chardonnay Report points to many outstanding wines, however

MOST 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,

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SA Sauvignon Blanc in delightfully good shape – Winemag Report

THERE 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),

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Some say Syrah, some say Shiraz – Top 10 in 2021 Winemag Report

“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

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Maestro Red rated ‘extraordinary, profound’ – Cape Bordeaux Report

HOW ABOUT THAT! Two of South Africa’s top-scoring wines in the 2021 Prescient Cape Bordeaux Red Blend Report come from cellars in Stellenbosch Kloof, the third from a winery a bit further west of the town centre, where Stellenbosch meets Kuils River. 96 points for DeMorgenzon Maestro Red 2017: “Extraordinary. Profound.” 95 points for Overgaauw Tria Corda 2017 and Zevenwacht

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SA Merlot still muddling along in 2021 – according to Winemag Report

‘EXCELLENT’ Merlot they found, but not one of the Top 10 in Winemag’s 2021 Prescient Report was regarded as ‘outstanding’ – none rated higher than 92/100 by the panel comprising editor Christian Eedes (chair), merchant James Pietersen of Cape Town’s Wine Cellar and Ndabezinhle Dube, F&B manager at the President Hotel in the Mother City. “Merlot’s crucial characterisitc is arguably its

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Painted Wolf Chenin offering what very few others do at R85 a bottle

WHILE DEDICATED to the conservation of the highly-endangered African wild dogs and their natural habitat, Painted Wolf Wines are so much more than the plethora of bottlings adorned with various forms of wildlife illustrations and animal names that do precious little for the reputation of the Cape’s finest reds and whites. A couple of years ago Jeremy and Emma Borg’s 2018

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Wildeberg, Franschhoek… A place from where great things flow

BOTH OF the top-scoring wines in Winemag’s 2021 Cape White Blend Report were from the Wildeberg outfit in Franschhoek. A pretty impressive showing by Cellarmaster JD Rossouw and the team, and not for the first time. Last year, the 2019 Wildeberg Red blend was selected among the winners of the Shiraz SA Challenge, while another red combo, the 2019 Underworld

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More than ‘braai wine’, Bonfire Hill thanks to a rescue mission of sorts

FOR JUST R69 a bottle you can get a delicious blend of Chenin and Roussanne from Wellington, Grenache Blanc from the Breedekloof and Viognier from Robertson – a mix that placed among the Top 10 and offered best ‘bang for your buck’ in Winemag’s 2021 Cape White Blend Report. In fact, at the time of writing the 2020 Bonfire Hill

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