AT THE timed, online Rhône Theme wine auction conducted by Strauss & Co on 10 February 2025, somebody paid over R8000 for a bottle of 1997 Syrah from Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek – double the price fetched for the second-most in-demand SA wine on this occasion, a bottle of the red
IT’S NOT the same as going to the tasting room on a wine farm in amongst the vines, but sometimes a wine bar in town can be just as much fun, sometimes more so, entertaining even. The following comprise the more notable Cape Town options as of 2025 – just
THE GARLAND 2020 from Simonsig in Koelenhof-Stellenbosch is the most highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2025 edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide. Five Stars, 97 points on the critics’ 100-point scale, tasted ‘blind’, the identity of the wine not disclosed during the final round of assessment. This after
THERE ARE still some cellars on the Cape wine routes of South Africa where they don’t charge you for a sip of their wines, a tasting of what they produce, but such places are very few and far between. Boekenhoutskloof is one: free wine tastings and tours at one of
IT’S A SMALL, narrow outdoor space, but the new Wine Deck at Mill St Bistro in Stellenbosch promises more than you might think at a glance. Where Mill Street intersects with Church Street, one of the most popular strips in town for those feeling hungry or just in the mood for a
THERE ARE wines that impress occasionally with this and that vintage, then there are those that please on a fairly regular basis, and then there are those wines that make you smile big time pretty much every time you open a bottle, whatever the year it was made in. The
AFTER a lengthy closure of the restaurant at La Motte in Franschhoek, the family farm of Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg re-opened its doors during the 2024/25 festive season, welcoming guests to a “reimagined experience”. What’s now on offer, says CEO Hein Koegelenberg, is really good food in a relaxed, casual setting. La
IT WAS scored 95/100 at the 2024 International Wine Challenge in the UK and was then judged best Pinotage reviewed in Platter’s 2025 South African Wine Guide. As such, the 2022 vintage of The Journal from Diemersdal will be routinely included among the benchmark examples of this South African variety
