“THERE’S SOMETHING strange happening in South Africa’s Semillon vineyards. Green bunches turn red the one year, then back to green the next. Hung like Christmas baubles on gnarled bushvines, the shapeshifting clusters are an enduring mystery” – Malu Lambert talking about Semillon Gris in Decanter (UK). Full article here. One of the Semillons recommended in the piece is La Colline
THE POWERS that be at Winemag.co.za delay the announcement of exactly how the panel rated their South African favourites in the publication’s various category reviews – a Top 10 is all they’ll tell us in each instance until divulging the rankings / scores out of 100 and the names of all the winners at a gala function come the end
THE quality and status of Wine SA at its best is on the up and up, however the size of South Africa’s wine industry is contracting – whether you’re looking at production and sales or the number of farms and cellars. Of course, times are tough in all wine-producing countries. More good times are just around the corner, right? Highlights
WHO ARE the best of the specialists when it comes to SA wine retailers? See above or below for the prime candidates in South Africa, but have we left out anyone, any place? And, while we’re about it, where best to shop for South African wines anywhere else in the world? Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar Cape Town: CBD
YES the top price paid at the online Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction on 1 June 2020 will be recorded as R17 588 for a single bottle of the 63-year-old red blend Chateau Libertas, but the theme of the sale was mostly about Chenin Blanc, Chenin-based blends, and Pinotage, arguably as much South Africa’s signature red as Chenin is
OLD AGE isn’t always a good thing when it comes to grape vines, but man, in many instances, can it make a positive difference to what’s in the glass! Big time! Thankfully, very good wines can originate in young vineyards too; the old stuff is scarce and what’s made from it tends to sell at a premium that can be
“THERE WE WERE, just thinking that this current prohibition, imposed under the guise of limiting the spread of Covid, was about to end with Wednesday’s presidential announcement [13 May 2020].” By ‘Wine Wizard’ Michael Fridjhon, courtesy of Port2Port, seven weeks into the lockdown imposed by the South African government on 27 March 2020 to limit Coronavirus infections, to flatten the
SHEW! Over R85 000 paid for one of the most expensive wines in the world, a single bottle of the Merlot-driven Petrus, 1989 vintage, and nearly R74K forked out for another top wine from Bordeaux, three bottles of ‘first growth’ blend Haut-Brion, also 30 years old. But arguably more impressive at the Strauss & Co / Wine Cellar auction
ART OF/ON WINE Many hold the view that to substantiate the concept of winemaking as an art form, it’s not enough to be limited in volume, exclusive by nature, embellished with an intriguing backstory… Craft/artisanal wines should also present as art, it is said, verbally and visually. For more about the palettes and collections of South Africa’s top boutique outfits
A FEW DECADES ago, wine lovers looking for recommendations as to which South African reds, whites or sweets were a cut above the rest might have relied on certification that the country’s Wine & Spirit Board had pronounced the contents of a bottle to be of ‘Superior’ quality. Then came the wine scribes, individual critics, local and international, offering either
SPEAKING during a conference conducted online during the Covid-19 lockdown affecting many countries around the globe, Pau Roca of Spain, the director general of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) headquarted in Paris, announced that there had been a marked decrease in production in 2019 compared to 2018. The estimated volume of wine produced by all of the
WHEN YOU want to but can’t venture out onto one of South Africa’s wonderful wine routes straight away, the next best thing might be to reminisce about sorties past or to plan your next trip into the countryside. The slideshows on Top Wine SA showcase the best wine producers in South Africa, the best places to eat at in the
SADLY, the South African Wine Index (SAWi) is losing credibility as an annual guide to the country’s best wines, the grand gold and platinum bottle stickers that signify inclusion in the publisher’s ‘Grand Wines Collection’ (GWC) becoming lumped together with others that shoppers and collectors should be wary of. What might once have been a noble endeavour to rank the
FOR THE MOST PART, the results of Strauss & Co’s ‘Rhône-themed’ fine wine online auction conducted in collaboration with the merchants Wine Cellar and sommelier Higgo Jacobs from 6 to 14 April 2020 were to be expected. But how impressive was the demand for that youngster from Donovan Rall, and could that old Zandvliet really still be alive and well?
TO SAY THAT the judges at the 2020 Cab Franc Challenge were impressed with the overall standard of the wines is an understatement: 29 of the 31 South African producers who entered the competition were pronounced winners and 90% of the entries (47 out of 52) from various parts of the Cape winelands were found to be of gold medal
IN THE Liquid Assets column of Independent Media’s Personal Finance magazine published in the first quarter of 2020 (see below), four of South Africa’s leading wine producers were in the spotlight for their success on the world stage in 2019. Three are among the Top 30 in the SA Cellar Classification and all have wines in the country’s Top 100
THE 2019 Uber Value SA Wine Guide revisited – all of the prices updated following the annual general increases across the industry in March 2020, and excluding all of those wines that have sold out since the guide was first published last December. These are the very best value wines of South Africa at under R100 a bottle that were
LOCATED on Route 62 east of Robertson in the Breede River Valley, the Rietvallei Estate has been in the Burger family for over 150 years – established in 1864, farming grapes for over 100 years and bottling wine since 1975. As a wine farm, it was initially renowned for top Muscadel, with the portfolio gradually expanding to include a number
FOR THE QUESTIONS, answers and in part heated outbursts that ensued after publication of Winemag’s 2020 Prescient Cap Classique Report, click here. For the full report and reviews of 50 South African sparkling wines made according to the traditional method, click here. Suffice to say: some of the online publication’s readers faulted the findings for being based on a competition
THE Fijnwyn Bubbles and Food Festival scheduled to take place in Pretoria on 20 and 21 March was the first top South African wine event in 2020 to be called off in line with the SA government’s banning of gatherings involving more than 100 people as one of the measures to combat the Coronavirus – the pandemic having begun in
