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
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
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
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
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
OVER 950 wines later… Convened by the Wine-of-the-Month Club, the American Express Fine Wine Awards is one of the largest competitions of its kind in South Africa (entry fee just R99/wine). In the 2026 edition, tasting ‘blind’, the judges evaluated the entries over six days before settling on 66 gold
HASHER in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Newstead in Plettenberg Bay produced the top-scorers – a red and a bubbly – from South Africa at the 2026 International Wine & Spirit Competition (UK). As in previous editions, the SA gold, silver and bronze medallists at the competition were announced in
IT WAS NOT one of the Quoin Rock winery’s oft-vaunted Black Series Cap Classique bubblies reviewed as ‘Outstanding’ in the July 2026 issue of Decanter Magazine (UK), but rather the more premium Brut Reserve, the 2015 vintage released in 2022/23 and still available at the time of writing for R2K/bottle
THEY WON’T tell us the number of entries received for South Africa’s 2026 National Wine Challenge, convened by Robin von Holdt of Buy Better Wine, and for a while it wasn’t clear just who was on the panel, however… The producers of the winning wines in the last of the
