NAMED AFTER the coach house that De Grendel founder Sir David Graaff built in 1898 to shelter his horses, wagons and carriages, the Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc used to be made from grapes harvested partly from a vineyard near the old coach house and partly from vines located in Darling. For the 2017 vintage, the grapes came from Darling and Lutzville, none from the
SA WINERIES excelled at the 2018 Six Nations Wine Challenge in Sydney, Australia, with Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Paarl producers winning trophies in the company of top cellars representing six New World countries: Australia, New Zealand, Chile, the USA, Canada and South Africa. A Stellenrust Chenin triumphed in the category for non-aromatic whites and Morgenster came top among the Bordeaux-style
“IS SOUTH AFRICAN Chardonnay suffering from ‘tall poppy syndrome’?” asked Winemag’s Christian Eedes in the 2018 Prescient Chardonnay Report. “In the past decade or so, the variety as made locally has achieved notable prominence but there has been a tendency in more recent times to disparage it in some quarters, the argument being that it is still some distance behind other New World
TAKEN BY SURPRISE! Just recently added to the Pongrácz range of Cap Classique bottle-fermented sparkling wines, the non-vintage Blanc de Blancs (white from white) version made entirely from Chardonnay – no Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier – has been quick to find favour among bubbly connoisseurs. The Vertex trophy winner as top-scoring wine overall and the only Chardonnay to win a
IF THE QUALITY isn’t up to spec, Kleine Zalze won’t bottle their top-of-the-range Family Reserve. There wasn’t a 2011 Shiraz, nor a 2014, but after the current-release 2013 comes the 2015 Family Reserve Shiraz, which will go on sale already highly recommended by panels of experts at first the International Wine Challenge, then the International Wine & Spirit Competition (also
PRODUCED “to exhibit the individuality of South Africa’s indigenous grape in ultimate cellar artistry” – and to honour a dog! Diesel was the name given to a beloved canine friend of South Africa’s Pinotage ambassador Beyers Truter, and it’s the name of the flagship wine from the Pinotage specialists at Beyerskloof, Stellenbosch. Diesel Pinotage has pretty much everything going for
WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE about the 2018 Stone White blend from Stettyn Family Vineyards, between the mountains on the road between Villiersdorp and Worcester. Won the 2018 Ultra Value Wine Challenge, a double gold blend of Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc, less than 13% Alc, only R39 a bottle from the cellar door! Homestead dating back to 1777. Acquired by the
THE 2017 vintages of D’Aria’s Songbird and De Grendel’s Koetshuis are particularly impressive wines in the 2018 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10, with both already multiple award winners before the latest rounds of applause: the Songbird also won at South Africa’s National Wine Challenge and earned silverware at the International Wine Challenge (UK); the Koetshuis also won gold at the Trophy
THE VERTEX trophy for Overall Champion at the 2018 Veritas Awards was presented to JC Le Roux of Distell for their Pongrácz Blanc de Blancs NV Cap Classique. This bubbly, made from Chardonnay in the style for which Champagne is famous, was the highest-scoring wine among the double gold medallists selected from over 1600 entries in this competition convened by
SEEING IS BELIEVING! Wine lovers might have wondered why, when announcing most of their 2018 results as regards South African entries in September, for some reason the organisers of the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London chose to include Warwick among the few South African wineries singled out for special mention, i.e. even though this Stellenbosch estate wasn’t among the
BEST WINE on Show! Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Shiraz 2015 was awarded top score at the 2018 Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards, the largest competition of its kind in South Africa with 30 judges from 16 countries on the panels assessing over 2000 entries. The latest achievement of this Stellenbosch beauty, one of the Top 10 Shiraz in the
TOTAL SALES at the 2018 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction amounted to over R10-million for 2012 cases (6 x 750ml or equivalent), with the average prices of R5 265 per case and R878 per bottle exceeding what was achieved in 2017. The line-up of 48 wines included 31 reds, 14 whites, two Cap Classique sparkling wines and a Cape Port, with the red blend Kanonkop
SPIER 21 GABLES is a range of single varietal wines, the premium offerings from this Stellenbosch outfit. The name pays tribute to the farm’s Cape Dutch architectural legacy, and forming the cornerstone of the range are a Chenin Blanc and a Pinotage, both included among the Top 10 of their type in the SA Wine Classification, with the portfolio having
A GOOD YEAR it’s been for Domaine des Dieux up on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, between Hermanus and Caledon. 2018 began with inclusion among the Top 10 bubblies in the SA Wine Classification, then came a gold medal at the Sparkling Wine World Championships in the UK, and now No. 1 at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge with the 2012 vintage of
RANKED No. 1 among the highest-scoring entries in the 2018 Ultra Value Wine Challenge was the ‘Stone White’ blend from Stettyn Family Vineyards between Villiersdorp and Worcester. The 2018 vintage of this Chenin Blanc Sauvignon Blanc combo was one of 14 submissions to achieve top ratings from the judges, chaired by Cape Wine Master Ginette de Fleuriot together with British Master
THE 2018 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 Awards will be presented on 10 October. In the meantime, here are the Top 20 to contemplate following completion of the judging – with Kleine Zalze fielding two of the finalists! This is the 11th edition of the competition staged by the South African wine industry’s Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group (SBIG) since the awards were first presented
GIVEN THE accusations and counter-accusations that have raged on between certain wine fundis of late, you cannot but wonder about the merits of what was being argued and the motivations of those who got involved in the argument one way or another. Core to the debate are issues that have occupied the minds of many scribes and wine enthusiasts the
THE FOLKS at Creation on Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge must have mixed feelings about the award for Best Wine Overall in Winemag’s 2018 ‘Tonnellerie-Saint-Martin Pinot Noir Report’. A score of 93 points (out of 100) equates to an “outstanding” wine in the opinion of panellists Christian Eedes (chair), Roland Peens and James Pietersen (both of Cape Town retailer Wine Cellar), all respected judges.
TIM ATKIN MW! Top international wine critic. Highly respected and awarded. London based. Loves South African wine. Loved by plenty of South African wine producers yearning for a rating of 95-plus and followed by plenty of SA wine lovers who trust his palate. And yet! In his 2018 “attempt to classify the Cape’s best producers, an annual exercise that has
BEYERSKLOOF of Stellenbosch has been awarded the trophy for best Pinotage in the 2018 International Wine & Spirit Competition, with the judges commending the 2014 vintage of Beyerskloof Diesel for its “great concentration of flavours on the palate, silky smooth texture, and long finish with a hint of chocolate”. The Pinotage specialists were also honoured for their Cape Blend, Faith, among
