IT WAS Brampton that got the ball rolling, and the ball has been picking up speed! First there was a single SA wine producer with a second home away from the vineyards in the centre of Stellenbosch, right in the middle of town, and now there are eight or so. Once a second label of Rustenberg, sold to DGB,
THE “SECOND EVER” panel-tasting of Pinotage by Decanter in the UK was described by judge Greg Sherwood MW as “a huge success”, with the results published in the Feb 2022 issue of the magazine. It had been over 20 years since the publishers last reviewed this class of red wines in such a focused manner and the jury praised
TOP WINE SA Hall of Fame, one of the Top 100 in the 2022 SA Wine Classification, among South Africa’s Top 10 Chenins and one of the country’s Wines of the Year in 2021. The Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc from Stellenrust in Stellenbosch, where the business is headed up by Kobie van der Westhuizen (viticulturist) and Tertius Boshoff (cellarmaster). Consistently top quality,
TOP WINE SA Hall of Fame, one of the Top 100 in the 2022 SA Wine Classification, among South Africa’s Top 10 Chenins and one of the country’s Wines of the Year in 2021. The 21 Gables barrel-fermented, barrel-matured Chenin Blanc from the Enthoven family’s Spier wine farm in Stellenbosch. Consistently top quality, always interesting and good value. Outstanding! The range of
WHILE WE WERE hanging in there, trying to establish the names of the judges at the latest Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters staged by The Drinks Business in the UK, the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa published an article by columnist Hilary Biller about the panel-tasting results that had one wondering… Why did ST / Biller only mention the name
WHAT’S YOUR favourite SA wine shop and why? Where do you shop for the best deals on South African wine? Who is most likely to have the wine you’re looking for – or good at getting you what they don’t have then and there? Your opinions and recommendations are welcome – it would be great to share them. In
SO HOW readily available are the Top 100 South African wines in the 2022 Classification, those with the best track records spanning the past 10 years, and how much are the current releases selling for? Well, a Top Wine SA survey of the country’s leading online merchants, focusing on those wines in the Hall of Fame (highlighted in bold below),
THE TOP WINE SA Hall of Fame is one thing, but so exclusive, very limited… Also prestigious is a Top 10 ranking in the South African Wine Classification – each of them found particularly appealing vintage after vintage, each of them recommended by panels of experts without fear or favour over the past decade, none of them ‘resting on their
OF THE THOUSANDS of wines produced in South Africa, 719 qualified for inclusion in the 2022 SA Wine Classification on the basis of good reviews from the top panels over the past 10 years – 2012 to 2021. The Classification, updated annually since 2004, showcases the Top 10 and Top 20 track records in each category as well as the
2022 HAD ALREADY got underway when Decanter (UK) announced the names of their Wines of the Year 2021. Experts around the world and on the Decanter team nominated those wines that had impressed them most during the year to October 2021, and these were then re-assessed by a panel comprising three of the publication’s judges: Master of Wine Michelle Cherutti-Kowal,
