OVER 150km / 1½hr drive from Cape Town, at the beach with not a vineyard in sight, The Saldanha Wine & Spirit Co of Adi Badenhorst and his cousin Hein is the only specialist Sherry-style wine producer in South Africa. According to Master of Wine Cathy van Zyl, writing for
IT STANDS to reason that because members of the Cape Winemakers Guild include a number of South Africa’s top cellarmasters, and as admission is by invitation only, whenever newcomers are welcomed on board it’s meaningful to wine lovers looking for pointers regarding top quality, interesting stuff – CWG members’ wines,
THE ARUM Restaurant at Boschendal is the newest dining experience at this estate in Franschhoek on the R310 to/from Pniel and Stellenbosch. At the time of writing, with 2025 winding down, the outdoor seating at Arum – which looks onto organic vegetable gardens and the mountains beyond – wasn’t yet
GUARDIANS of the Pinotage legacy. That’s how they refer to themselves at the Bellevue Wine Estate in Bottelary, Stellenbosch. It’s from this farm, now owned by Marinus Neethling, that the grapes came from for the very first Pinotage wine released onto the market in 1961, the Lanzerac Pinotage 1959, back
FAIR AND SQUARE. No punches pulled… The trouble with best value competitions specifically for wines below a particular price ceiling concerns the preconceptions and bias associated with judging such categories, which can lead to lauding wines that aren’t quite as good as we’re led to believe. Instead, let’s look at
SEVEN CATEGORIES of top wines from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight… Click on the links below for the country’s most highly rated Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc… The Cape’s
THE TOP Cap Classique sparkling wine from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings
THE TOP Shiraz/Syrah from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and for all
THE TOP Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and for
THE TOP Pinotage from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and for
THE TOP Chenin Blanc from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and
THE TOP Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and
