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The Garland 2020 “silky, effortless” – Platter's No. 1 Cab
Mike Froud
2025-02-07
THE GARLAND 2020 from Simonsig in Koelenhof-Stellenbosch is the most highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2025 edition of Platter's South African Wine Guide. Five ...
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How much is too much for a tasting in the Cape winelands?
Mike Froud
2025-02-04
THERE ARE still some cellars on the Cape wine routes of South Africa where they don't charge you for a sip of their wines, a ...
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Wine Deck in Stellenbosch features chef's ‘unsung heroes'
Mike Froud
2025-01-28
IT'S A SMALL, narrow outdoor space, but the new Wine Deck at Mill St Bistro in Stellenbosch promises more than you might think at a glance. Where ...
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Top SA wines over the past 10 years – 2025 Classification
Mike Froud
2025-01-16
THERE ARE wines that impress occasionally with this and that vintage, then there are those that please on a fairly regular basis, and then there ...
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Casual take on fine-dining at La Motte's friendly new brasserie
Mike Froud
2025-01-13
AFTER a lengthy closure of the restaurant at La Motte in Franschhoek, the family farm of Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg re-opened its doors during the 2024/25 festive ...
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The Journal from Diemersdal! Top Pinotage in Platter's Guide
Mike Froud
2025-01-03
IT WAS scored 95/100 at the 2024 International Wine Challenge in the UK and was then judged best Pinotage reviewed in Platter's 2025 South African ...
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A rather rare, very unusual wine… Springfontein Chenel
Mike Froud
2024-12-29
AT SPRINGFONTEIN, outside the town of Stanford, the focus is on the South African grape varieties Pinotage and Chenel, albeit that the latter's arrival on ...
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Wild Horseshoe 2023! Top-rated white wine in Platter's Guide
Mike Froud
2024-12-28
THE MOST highly rated Sauvignon Blanc, the most highly rated white wine and one of the three most highly rated wines overall in the 2025 ...
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Saronsberg Shiraz 2022! Top-rated red wine in Platter's Guide
Mike Froud
2024-12-21
THE VAN HUYSSTEEN family's Saronsberg Cellar is renowned for a number of different wines, but Shiraz is the speciality on this farm in the Tulbagh ...
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Christine 2017! Top-rated red blend in Platter's 2025 Guide
Mike Froud
2024-12-18
MANY if not most of South Africa's top red wines released in 2024 are from the 2021 or 2022 vintages – two- or three-year-old wines. ...
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‘Moonshine' picnics, why not – between Hermanus and Stanford
Mike Froud
2024-12-12
IT'S NOT the first year that picnics have been offered alongside the Maanschijn winery at the Stonefields farm on Route 43 between Stanford and Hermanus, ...
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Constantia Glen's white blend on the mark time and again
Mike Froud
2024-12-11
WHAT A LOVELY place to relax at on a summer's day with a chilled glass of something good and interesting… We're talking Constantia Glen and ...
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Platter's No. 1 Chardonnay from some of THE coolest vineyards
Mike Froud
2024-12-09
THE MOST highly rated Chardonnay in Platter's 2025 South African Wine Guide: the 2022 vintage from Iona in the Elgin Highlands. It follows the 2021, ...
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2022 Lothian Chardonnay the latest in an Elgin success story
Mike Froud
2024-12-05
THE TROPHY winner, the best white wine from South Africa at the 2024 International Wine Challenge in London, UK – one of the biggest, one ...
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South Africa's Red Wines of the Year 2024… Top Wine SA
Mike Froud
2024-12-02
ALL THE top trophy winners, all the wines scored 96+ and those that were highly rated by two or more of the top panels – ...
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Top Wine SA… South Africa's White Wines of the Year 2024
Mike Froud
2024-12-02
ALL THE top trophy winners, all the wines scored 96+ and those that were highly rated by two or more of the top panels – ...
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And then there were more seriously good wines at < R150
Mike Froud
2024-11-27
5 STARS in Platter's 2025 SA Wine Guide, from one of the country's top winemakers in Donovan Rall, using grapes grown on the mountains in ...
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Top 3 in Platter's 2025 Guide from Elgin, Durbanville, Tulbagh
Mike Froud
2024-11-21
THE TOP-RATED wines in the 2025 edition of Platter's South African Wine Guide – scored 98/100 – are the Cap Classique sparkler Cipher Blanc de ...
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Endura Chenin remarkable in many ways… The origin, for one!
Mike Froud
2024-11-20
AT THE TIME of writing there were fewer than 400 bottles / 60 cases left at the cellar in Paarl. Which is hardly surprising, given ...
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New Table at Oak Valley and Bloem Restaurant at Paul Clüver
Mike Froud
2024-11-16
AND THEN there were two… Many who love wining and dining in South Africa's Cape winelands have fond memories of lunching alfresco on the lawn ...
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Some trophies mean more than others at the IWSC, London
Mike Froud
2024-11-14
CONTRARY TO what some people might think, certain wine producer trophy laureates at the mega International Wine & Spirit Competition in the UK are determined ...
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Vilafonté the Most Outstanding Wine Producer at IWSC 2024
Mike Froud
2024-11-13
OF THE 36 South African gold medallists chosen from nearly 7000 wines entered in the 2024 International Wine & Spirit Competition (UK), three went on ...
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Year after year… Apogée among best of the best SA Pinot Noir
Mike Froud
2024-11-09
YOU CAN'T miss it as you leave Hermanus and motor along the R320 between the vineyards and up the hill out of the ‘Hemel-en-Aarde Valley' ...
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Colombe and Chefs Warehouse still best SA wine farm eateries
Mike Froud
2024-11-02
THREE CAPE wine farm restaurants have retained their rankings among THE most highly rated establishments in the annual JHP Gourmet Guide to South Africa's best ...
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One-of-a-kind Pinot Meunier Cap Classique now for everyone
Mike Froud
2024-10-28
RELEASED exclusively to their club members when launched a few months earlier but then made available to all wine lovers, Graham Beck Pinot Meunier 2022 ...
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Taste what’s possible with the Alvi’s Drift Reserve range
Mike Froud
2024-10-24
Six exceptional wines, passionately crafted for discerning palates in the relentless pursuit of excellence – the expression of head winemaker Alvi van der Merwe’s drive ...
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Top scores at Veritas revealed! Eight wineries awarded 95+
Mike Froud
2024-10-23
THE DOUBLE GOLD winners at the 2024 Veritas Awards have disclosed what the competition organisers will not… Apart from presenting the Vertex trophy for the ...
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Bottle of mysterious GS Cabernet 1966 auctioned for R32 830
Mike Froud
2024-10-22
THE TOP price paid at Strauss & Co's timed, online Bordeaux-themed auction concluded on 21 October '24 was R32 830 (US$1862) for a bottle of ...
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Winemag declines to give really high score in Cabernet Report
Mike Froud
2024-10-20
OF THE 61 entries from the 48 producers who submitted their wines for assessment in the 2024 Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report published by Winemag.co.za, 28 ...
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Overberg wine top-scores in South African Chardonnay Report
Mike Froud
2024-10-20
NOT MANY wine producers have access to vineyards in the Elandskloof valley of the Overberg district, Western Cape. Anthonij Rupert Wyne of Franschhoek is one ...
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