WHICH ARE THE TOP wineries in South Africa? The best overall – the Top 20 producers, say? Such a selection cannot be without some controversy, largely because it depends on how you measure the leading cellars, and when. Do you consider the top label, a single wine from each cellar, or should we look at everything they produce, or maybe something in
THE SA Wine & Cellar Classifications point to the current ‘who’s who’ of the South African winelands – all of the top wines and cellars over the past 10 years, including the very best in each class. Ten years’ tasting results, the best track records, involving the TOP TASTING PANELS, local and international – a pooling of expert opinions about South
THERE ARE fine-dining tables indoors with artworks on the walls, but the views from the verandah of a reed-lined dam and the Helderberg are difficult to resist! The new restaurant destination on the Somerset West wine route that is 95 at Morgenster is not the place for a simple plate of grub and a glass of any old vino. This is a
IT WAS ABOUT TIME! Long overdue, you might say… By far and away South Africa’s leading producer of fortified dessert wines over the past 30 years or so and with a reputation for great-value quaffers too, Nuy Winery east of Worcester had made do with a rather humble cellar-door tasting and sales facility until the new showcase venue, restaurant and deli opened
THE LATEST of the most outstanding achievements going the way of South African wines and cellars – the IWSC Winemaker of the Year award to Abrie Beeslaar of Kanonkop – inevitably raises the question about top contenders for 2015 SA Champion(s) status. The following ranked as favourites among the top tasting panels this year – 25 wines from 24 producers: Bellingham The Bernard
IT HAPPENS at least once a year that a few wine producers and/or critics whinge on one or other topic relating to wine ratings and awards: about the pros and cons of ‘sighted’ versus ‘blind’ tastings (with or without the labels in view); or the merits and demerits of wines being reviewed by an individual critic versus a panel of
ASKED to come up with a line-up of wines he “considered as South Africa’s aspirational Cap Classiques” that wine lovers won’t buy or drink every day, Graham Beck cellarmaster Pieter Ferreira chose a selection that he regarded as “under the radar but sparkling up a storm”. His presentation along these lines was at the 2015 Cape Wine trade show in the
AT THE LAUNCH of the 2016 edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide, it was announced that the top ratings went to Mullineux & Leeu of Riebeek Kasteel in the Swartland and Warwick of the Simonsberg ward in Stellenbosch. The White Lady Chardonnay 2014 from Warwick was declared Platter’s White Wine of the Year, whereas Mullineux bottlings were applauded as
SCHEDULED to be launched to the public at the Sunset Market on the old square in the village on Friday 27 November, the Stanford Wine Route spans the area east of Hermanus, north of Gansbaai, south of Caledon and west of Cape Agulhas. Another beautiful part of the Cape winelands, it includes eight members on a meander that’s been growing and
EIKENDAL’S latest releases of their so-called ícon wines – the 2014 Chardonnay at R127 pb and the 2013 red blend Classique at R223 pb – promise much. Such are the good track records of these wines that it’s amazing to some that the Stellenbosch property still has a low profile relative to many of the other Top 50 wine cellars in South Africa. It was
LOUISVALE… Very low profile in recent times, and then POW! Top rating with a Bordeaux-style red blend in the first Ultra Value Wine Challenge after it had collected silver at the Trophy Wine Show earlier in the year, and then the title of Best Rosé at the annual Cap Classique Challenge for South African sparkling wines made according to the traditional
THE HONOUR for most trophies won by a producer at the Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition since it began 19 years back (1997) is shared by Kanonkop of Stellenbosch and Rijk’s of Tulbagh at 10 each. However during the last 10 years of the shoot-out (2006 to 2015), the judges on the Top 10 tasting panels have awarded seven to Rijk’s, six to Windmeul
THE WINERY of Good Hope’s featuring Radford Dale Freedom Pinot Noir 2012 among the wines on tables at the Stockholm wedding banquet of Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip, son of Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf, prompted flash-backs to various other occasions prior to this June 2015 event that South African wines have been served to royalty… Graham Beck Brut NV Cap Classique
GOING BY the last count in 2014, South Africa has some 3300 farms on which grapes are being grown for making wine and there are around 550 wineries in the various regions, districts and wards. According to industry data published by SAWIS, about 200 farms are registered for the production of Estate Wine – wine that is grown, produced and bottled on
AS ONE OF the Cape’s ‘First Growths’ with a history of winemaking going back to the 1700s and uninterrupted since 1892, Rustenberg in Ida’s Valley and on the slopes of the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch has not been resting on its laurels. Far from it. The Barlow family stands out as one of South Africa’s Top 20 producers as regards dry reds and whites
PARTICULARLY good reviews for Rustenberg and Groot Constantia on the show circuit in 2015 have revived discussions about the so-called ‘First Growths’ in the winelands of South Africa – First Growths being defined as the areas or wines from those areas regarded as among the very finest of a particular district or region, based on the concept of terroir, which has to
CHAMPIONS at the 2015 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show include both industry stalwarts and newcomers – as well as a Bordeaux-style red blend scored 92 out of 100, priced at under R30 a bottle and made at a cellar that the retailer chooses not to disclose! Rustenberg was the Most Successful Producer Overall, with two gold medallists going on to win trophies, three
SOMETHING(S) to bear in mind if planning a trip to the Cool Wine & Country Festival in Elgin between 9am and 5pm on 2 & 3 May that involves a weekend pass costing R100 pp: Not every Elgin wine will be on show – non-participants include Richard Kershaw, Spioenkop and Sutherland (of Thelema), plus a number of other producers who
MANY IN FRANSCHHOEK pride themselves on the town’s reputation as a leading sparkling wine producer and the annual Cap Classique & Champagne festival is a marvellous affair. One out of every three cellars in the district produces bubbly, the vignerons promote their Cap Classique route and some of the wineries are specialists who make little or nothing else. And yet…
THE MOST successful wine outfits in and around the town of Robertson in a district that also encompasses Ashton, Bonnievale and McGregor, tend to be those close to the Breede River. And Robertson’s Top 10 producers according to track records spanning the 10 years 2005 to 2014 include some of South Africa’s leading bubbly producers as well as cellars with good
