HOW SAD. Despite the hype, there just wasn't enough sell through. Although only R100 per ticket, sales were not up to expectation with just weeks to go and the 2026 Chardonnay Festival has been cancelled. The event, organised by the Chardonnay Association of South Africa, was to have showcased many of South Africa's finest expressions of the variety during a day-long programme at De Wetshof Estate in Robertson on 12 September.
The festival had originally been scheduled for earlier in the year, in May, before being postponed for a similar reason. Apparently, several other wine events have seen the same pattern: strong interest, sluggish ticket sales, even for venues in Stellenbosch. “We're really very sad about the entire thing,” said Association spokesperson Madison Keyser, “but with such a poor response, we simply could not facilitate moving forward. We have chosen to permanently cancel this until such a time we feel the market is ready for more events like this.”
For all of the most highly rated SA Chardonnays during the past couple of years, click here. For the Chardonnays included in the SA Wine Classification spanning the past 10 years, click here.