WAITING AND WONDERING… First the publishers put the word out that the Winery of the Year in their 2021 edition of Platter’s SA Wine Guide will be announced to the world via Facebook and Instagram on the evening of 11 November, South African time, but with subscribers permitted to view the “full results” via their website. Then they announced that, actually, there will be a more detailed announcement including the name of the Winery of the Year on 12 November. And then one of the tasters for the guide, Angela Lloyd, apparently let some of the cats out of the bag on her website, ‘Out of the Press’, naming Kleine Zalze of Stellenbosch as Platter’s Winery of the Year and listing the 5 Star laureates – only to remove the bit about the winning Winery of the Year a short while later!

If in fact Kleine Zalze has scooped the ultimate accolade in Platter’s, it follows the team’s achievement of Most Successful Producer Overall at the 2020 Trophy Wine Show. At the time of writing, the announcement of the various Wines of the Year remained on hold – as did the date that the 2021 hardcover edition of the book will go on sale! On the other hand, Lloyd wasn’t the only one spilling the beans, with various wineries unable to contain their excitement on being told that one or more of their wines had been awarded 5 Stars.