KWV, Paarl. SCHENKFONTEIN! Where’s that? Stofjas! What’s that? Thor Semillon nothing to do with the Marvel fantasy! Port Capital comes second? Best value gold medallist a Shiraz at just R115 a bottle… Some discoveries, some surprises, as well as endorsements for numerous cellars with established credentials. The 2024 edition of
NOT EXACTLY déjà vu, but more than a few of the winners at South Africa’s National Wine Challenge in 2024 also collected top-of-the-class awards in 2023: De Krans Tritonia Verdelho, Dornier Equanimity Cabernet Sauvignon, Graham Beck Cuvée Clive Cap Classique, Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve White, Paul Cluver Seven Flags Chardonnay,
PATIENCE required… The 2022 Saronsberg Shiraz came top at the 2024 Syrah du Monde held in the Rhône, France. This just weeks after the Tulbagh cellar struck gold with the same vintage at the International Wine Challenge (UK). However, the wanna-have will only be released onto the market in 2025.
THERE WERE 75 single-variety South African Chenins submitted for assessment in Winemag’s 2024 Prescient Chenin Blanc Report, with 49 rated 90-plus and three of these regarded as particularly outstanding, worthy of 95 according to the panel’s 100-point scoring system. However, their favourite among the top three, the Best Overall: Flagstone
THE TASTING PANEL of South Africa’s Winemag.co.za has never scored any glass of red or white higher than 96 out of 100, and prior to May 2024 had only awarded such a score to nine wines since they began using a 100-point scale. In 2023 they found just one wine
THERE ARE very few SA wines selling for Under R150pb being showcased on Top Wine SA as of May ’24. Which says a couple of things: that prices are climbing, to state the obvious, and that only those wines that have been highly rated by a top panel during the
CHARDONNAYS from Lothian Vineyards of Elgin and Whalehaven of Hermanus were South Africa’s top-scoring gold medallists at the 2024 International Wine Challenge in London. The 2022 vintage from Lothian and the 2023 Seascape Reserve (WO Upper Hemel-en-Aarde) from Whalehaven achieved 96/100 – just above 13 other gold medal winners from
THERE ISN’T much of South Africa’s 2024 Cab Franc Challenge winner, and at the time of writing – after the results went public, a week after the awards presentation – the bottles had yet to be labelled, let alone released onto the market! Hopefully the 2021 vintage of Mitre’s Edge
FOR AN UPDATE of all the organic wines produced in South Africa that are officially certified as such, click here. Below are those from the Cape that received good to very good reviews from the top panels of experts in 2023. There are numerous winemakers and viticulturists who adhere to
OH THAT there could be an internationally accepted, universally agreed-upon 100-point system for scoring wine. If only the convenors of the competitions, shows, challenges and reports could concur as to where on the spectrum a wine is considered very good, exceptionally good, world class and super wonderful, as good as
SOUTH AFRICA achieved three gold medals at the 2024 edition of Chardonnay du Monde in Burgundy, France, with one of the winning wines – the 2023 vintage of Glen Carlou’s wooded version – ranked among the Top 10. WO Paarl, R190pb ex-cellar! Some 200 wine experts from around the world
AT LAST COUNT, the number of visitors to Groot Constantia stood at around 450 000 a year. It’s been the most popular wine farm in South Africa’s Cape winelands for some time, which is not to be confused with wine sales – gone are the days when ‘Joe Soap’ and
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Top Wine SA is your go-to site for South Africa’s top-rated wines and their prices, top-rated wines at under R150 a bottle, other SA wine recommendations, the top SA wine events calendar, news and comment. Home of the SA Wine Classification and the Hall of Fame, keeping tabs on the best track records of the country’s top wines as judged by the top panels locally and internationally. A directory of the country’s top producers as well as where to eat and stay on the top farms, among the vines. And there’s more, much more…
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