WITH THEIR achievements in the 2021 edition of the Perold Absa Cape Blend Competition, the five winners showed once again how consistently good their wines are as combos with Pinotage being the leading component comprising between 30% and 70%. Since the competition was first held by the Pinotage Association in
AT STRAUSS & Co’s 27 September 2021 fine wine auction of 10-year-olds, the Sadie Family of the Swartland, Klein Constantia as well as the Stellenbosch cellars of Kanonkop, Vilafonté and Glenelly stood out as those fetching more than R2000 a bottle. Bidding for the red blend Keet First Verse and
ON THE EVE of the 100th test match between the Springboks and the All Blacks, on a rugby field in Australia, came the news that the countries’ winemakers had all but shared the spoils in an encounter featuring some of their top Sauvignon Blancs. The overall winner was South Africa,
WHO WOULD have thought that of the Top 100 winery destinations in the world, seven are in Lebanon, three in Russia? None in China, surprisingly enough, but there’s at least one worth seeking out in Japan, and one in India too! In the third year of the World’s Best Vineyards
WINNER of the 2021 Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge: Kleine Zalze Vintage Brut 2015. South African sparkling wine made according to the traditional method made famous in Champagne, France. Stellenbosch cellar of Kobus Basson. Stellenbosch grapes: 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir. Bottle-fermented, matured for five years prior to disgorgement. R238pb
CONSISTENCY is a wonderful thing, as is the emergence of new stars and the resurgence of others. It would be surprising should Stellenrust and DeMorgenzon not feature among the Top 10 in the annual Challenge staged by the Chenin Blanc Association of South Africa, sponsored by Standard Bank. Ditto two
AMAZING! They’d never get away with it in the modern era: different bottles, different-looking labels, but same wine, same vintage. Things were so different back then. Apparently not all Grand Constance / Groot Constantia wine of the 1800s was bottled at source. It was not uncommon for this sweet nectar
RECORDS APLENTY! There were five bottles up for grabs at the Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction held in Johannesburg on 14 September 2021. All South African wines, ranging from a 34-year-old dessert to one from a barrel first filled in 1800 – some buyers in the room, some bidding
TOP 10 IN the 2021 Winemag Pinotage Report (SA), gold medallist at the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) and trophy laureate in the Pinotage Association’s 2021 Absa Top 10 competition. What an impressive beginning for Francois van Niekerk’s first vintage (2019) under his own label – a very limited release
BRING OUT the tasting glasses! Just days after turning a page on the calendar, word came down the grapevine that new wine festivals have been planned and that some of the old favourites are making a comeback, having shut up shop during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. Besides the many and
2L BOX or 750ml bottle, no doubt the 2021 Darling Cellars Reserve Pyjama Bush was what many SA pink wine lovers began clamouring for after it was named Best in Show at Rosé Rocks 2021. As the winner of the inaugural Allan Mullins Award for the top-scoring entry in the
EVERY REGION of the winelands has its champions and in Robertson, when it comes to Chardonnay, number one is De Wetshof Estate – close to the Breede River, alongside the R317 to Bonnievale. With no fewer than five classy versions that have received good reviews consistently to the point of inclusion
