ONE OF THE first farms on the Stellenbosch Wine Route. Top Wine SA Hall of Fame. Producer of one of the best expressions of Pinotage and an ‘old vine’ Chenin. Pioneer of bottle-fermented Cap Classique – Kaapse Vonkel (Cape Sparkle) being the first South African sparkling wine made according to
AT UNDER R200pb, surely there’s no better value-for-money sparkling wine on the market in 2026 than the 2020 vintage of Laborie Blanc de Blancs from KWV in Paarl? Champion at the 25th edition of the Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge after scoring 96 at South Africa’s Trophy Wine Show earlier
TWO OF THE winning wines in South Africa’s 2026 Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge applauded in September 2026 had already been honoured by top panels before: Stellenrust Barrel Fermented 2025 and Stettyn Old Vine 2025. Plus, there are four other top SA Chenins that have earned very good
IT’S BACK! Reinvented, under a different name… The popular Cuvée restaurant that closed some years ago has been replaced with Vonkel (‘Sparkle’), open daily from 9am to 5pm at Simonsig Family Vineyards in Koelenhof, Stellenbosch, serving “brunch and lunch with a menu built around fresh, seasonal ingredients, quality provenance and
RIEBEEK Valley Wine Co complete the winemaking of the flagship Kasteelberg range of wines in a boutique cellar at their large production facility in the town of Riebeek Kasteel, separate from the bigger-volume lines in their portfolio. It’s about taking the craft of winemaking to another level, beginning outside the
THERE WERE 112 wines from 59 producers entered in the 2026 edition of the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition, and once again the winners included Beyerskloof of Stellenbosch and Diemersdal of Durbanville. The standout newcomers: Frostline from the Langdam Mountain Vineyards on the Koo Plateau outside Montagu in the Klein
A LIGHT-HEARTED meander for people who simply enjoy wine and wanna know more… One of the more unusual events in the last quarter of the 2026 SA wine calendar is the talk Harry Melck CWM will be giving to diners at Café Roux in Cape Town’s Noordhoek Village on the
KASTEELBERG Premium Chenin Blanc 2024 from the Riebeek Valley Wine Company in the Swartland town of Riebeek Kasteel. Winner of a Grand Master award at the 2026 Global Chenin Blanc Masters in London. Best of the Master award winners (scored 97+) in a competition dominated by South African wines, which
HOW SAD. Despite the hype, there just wasn’t enough sell through. Although only R100 per ticket, sales were not up to expectation with just weeks to go and the 2026 Chardonnay Festival has been cancelled. The event, organised by the Chardonnay Association of South Africa, was to have showcased many
THE CHENIN Blanc Association has retracted a statement posted on social media about a new rule applying to their annual Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge that would have limited the number of winning wines per entrant as from the 2026 edition of the competition. As reported earlier on Top Wine
FAIR OR nonsensical? “While producers may enter multiple wines in the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge, only one wine per producer can be included in the final Top 10.” A rule introduced (and later retracted) by the competition organisers to ensure that “the final selection reflects not only
THE SA Terroir Wine Awards are the culmination of a competition unique in South Africa insofar as the entries must be certified as single-vineyard, or estate-produced, wine made from grapes grown in a single ward or in a district not divided into wards… The organisers describe terroir as: “The basis
