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
HIGH up in the Cederberg mountains to the south-east and north-east of Clanwilliam and Citrusdal respectively… Amazing that they thought to plant grape vines up there among the rocks, the highest vineyards in South Africa’s Western Cape with those cold, snowy winters. And so successfully! The Nieuwoudt family’s winery is the
HIGHLIGHTs of the 2026 Shiraz SA Challenge results include Spier of Stellenbosch winning in both the straight Shiraz and Shiraz blend categories, Windmeul of Paarl offering great value at R90 for a winning Shiraz, and Benguela Cove of Hermanus coming top in the Shiraz Rosé class. Of the two premium-priced
CRAZY, or not? South Africa’s Wine Certification Authority will not disclose what wines it has certified in terms of where the grapes come from, e.g. Wine of Origin Piekenierskloof, WO Paardeberg, WO Polkadraai Hills, WO Elgin, WO Elim, etc. If you want to know the names of everything that originated
