THE TOP Chenin Blanc from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and
THE TOP Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and
THE TOP Chardonnay from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind’, i.e. labels out of sight – excluding wines made specifically for sale on auction, export-only wines and museum-class wines. For details of the ratings and for
TWO WINES scored 99 points on their 100-point scale. A first for Platter’s South African Wine Guide. Most highly rated in the 2026 edition, the hardcover version available in book stores from December 2025: A Chenin Blanc, Botanica Mary Delany 2024, grapes from the Citrusdal Mountain district in the Olifants
SOUTH AFRICA’S good showing at the 2025 Global Chardonnay Masters in the UK was remarkable for a number of reasons. Among the gold medallists announced mid-November is Springfield of Robertson, who usually try to avoid having their wines rated in panel tastings conducted ‘blind’. Also among the standouts are Cape
WELL, 99% of them… A few of the wine producers who entered the 2025 Veritas Awards and went on to win double gold either didn’t respond to queries about their scores or preferred to leave it at that – double gold being the highest accolade at the show besides the
“FOUR VINTAGES. Wooded and unwooded. Three wards and six districts across three regions. This is the story of the 2025 FNB Sauvignon Blanc SA Top 10.” That’s according to South Africa’s Sauvignon Blanc Association, organisers of the annual competition that this time around attracted 167 entries from 98 producers. Cederberg Wines’
NO MEAN FEAT! The most highly rated of over 1200 entries in the 2025 edition of the longest-running and biggest South African wine and spirit competition… The 2022 vintage of The Mentors Perold is the third wine from the KWV cellars in Paarl to win the Vertex Trophy at the
IT’S SURPRISING to find neither Kanonkop nor Rijk’s among the winners of an Absa Top 10 – such are their good track records in this competition held by the Pinotage Association. You might say the same about Beeslaar, who, like Kanonkop, was among the runners-up in the 2025 edition. However,
THERE’S a fair bit to like about the Global Fine Wine Challenge in Sydney, Australia, however it’s not without its downsides. On the upside there’s the rivalry that comes with pitting some of the finest wines of South Africa, New Zealand, Canada and Australia against one another, as well as
IT WAS disappointing news for the wine-loving public looking forward to the Pinotage festival scheduled for 11 October 2025 at the Meerendal estate in Durbanville outside Cape Town – a festival to celebrate 100 years since the first seeds of South Africa’s most successful grape variety were planted in 1925.
IT WAS ONLY a matter of time… 2019 was when winemaker Elunda Basson took charge of the cellar at the Beck Family Estates’ Steenberg farm in Tokai on the Constantia Wine Route after making a name for herself as a bubbly champion in Stellenbosch. Six years later, the 2019 vintage
