AT THE DAWN of the new millennium there were only 20 or so South African wineries producing sparkling wine according to the traditional or classic method for which the French are famous. Today there are over 100 cellars in the Cape making Cap Classique on a regular or occasional basis. The category has been booming, in part at least thanks
THE NAMES of South Africa’s unfortified wine producers currently ranked among the Top 100 are included in the 2015 Classification based on consistently good reviews in blind tastings by panels of experts locally and around the globe. Of these, the country’s 50 most successful cellars – led by Kanonkop, Nederburg and Vergelegen – are spotlighted below. Bergkelder (Fleur du Cap) –
BASED ON THE best track records in 26 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years, the South African Wine & Cellar Classifications celebrate the country’s leading outfits – those who are regularly on top form, their product judged top-notch again and again, year after year. To be eligible for the Classification, updated annually since 2004, a wine must
REFLECTING on the past year as regards Wine SA, there is a case to be made for Paarl being home to the champion producer in 2014 after KWV triumphed as the most successful entrant overall at the most prestigious competitions on the South African wine calendar – first at the Trophy Wine Show (for the second time) and then at the Veritas
ALTHOUGH THE EXACT pecking order regarding the very best wine producers in South Africa will forever be debatable, there is little argument amongst the cognoscenti that The Sadie Family is comfortably among the Top 10 in terms of the special nature and interest value of what they produce. Yet to many, this cellar in the foothills of the Paardeberg outside Malmesbury in the
RELATIVE to many other top South African wine estates, Diemersdal is humble in appearance – nothing very fancy, a rustic farm that in some ways has been slow to change with the times, and all the more charming for it. Within the ward of Durbanville, the farm stands apart to the north of the town – quite separate from most of
THERE’S BEEN much talk again of late about the Top 100 SA Wines and The Cape’s Top 20 Wineries of 2014 – the chatter about South Africa’s Top 100 wines prompted by a selection of various vintages of various types of wine based on the outcome of a local challenge involving some 490 competition entries, and the debate as to the country’s
THE TULBAGH WINES with the best track records over the past 10 years stand out as follows – all regular recipients of good reviews by top judges internationally: TOP REDS PINOTAGE – Rijk’s, Manley, Klein Tulbagh SHIRAZ – Saronsberg, Rijk’s, Saronsberg Provenance RED BLENDS – Saronsberg Full Circle, Saronsberg Seismic, Saronsberg Provenance Rooi TOP WHITES CHENIN BLANC – Rijk’s VIOGNIER – Saronsberg WHITE BLEND – Fable
THE NICOBAR Sauvignon Blanc has been notable from day one. Unique about the maiden 2007 vintage was that the grapes came from Quoin Rock’s farm in the Cape Agulhas district – the subsequent releases being WO Simonsberg-Stellenbosch. And what made its success all the more remarkable was that it’s been achieved despite (or because of) being so unusual or atypical
SOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications based on the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years feature eight new inclusions among the Top 100 Cellars: De Morgenzon, Laborie Wine Estate, Newton Johnson Family Vineyards, Nitida Cellars, Quoin Rock Winery, Rall Wines, Reyneke Wines and Van Loveren. However the majority of the
SOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications on the basis of the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years have just been released. To be eligible for Classification, a wine must have been made and bottled in South Africa and must have earned very good reviews by at least one of the
SOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications on the basis of the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years have just been released. To be eligible for Classification, a wine must have been made and bottled in South Africa and must have earned very good reviews by at least one of the
SOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications on the basis of the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years have just been released. To be eligible for Classification, a wine must have been made and bottled in South Africa and must have earned very good reviews by at least one of the
SOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications based on the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years have just been released. To be eligible for Classification, a wine must have been made and bottled in South Africa and must have earned very good reviews by at least one of the top judging
THE OWNERS of Oak Valley Estate might have been the first to build a winery in the vicinity of Grabouw around 100 years ago, but it was Paul Cluver Snr who really got the Elgin winelands going when he planted his first vineyards in the mid-1980s and began bottling on his farm from the late 1990s. It’s been many years
THE RECENT launch by Alvi’s Drift of a flagship Chenin Blanc under the Albertus Viljoen label is the culmination of another outstanding year for this cellar in the Worcester district of the Breede River Valley. The winery on the Alfalfa farm 17km south of the town of Worcester has enjoyed success after success since its first bottling in 2004, and
FOR SOME the annual Cape Winemakers Guild Auction is an opportunity to acquire some of what amounts to the best tanks or barrels before they’re combined with others nearly as good for sale in commercial quantities. For others it’s a chance to get one or more of the special cuvées from top cellars, wines made in tiny quantities, sometimes very unique,
APPLAUDED as the top-performing cellars at the 2013 Veritas Awards according to the type and number of medals won were: KWV, Nederburg, Boplaas, De Grendel and Flagstone. Also singled out for special mention were: Delaire Graff, Eagles’ Nest, Graham Beck, Kanonkop, Rustenberg, Simonsig, Spier, Tokara and Windmeul. Among the newcomers of note? Rivendell near Bot River (good Sauvignon Blanc) and Kleinhoekkloof near Ashton (standout Merlot). For the
COMPILED BY Mike Froud of Top Wine SA and commissioned by MapStudio of New Holland Publishing, My WineRoute South Africa cuts to the chase like no SA wine guide has done before. The book classifies the country’s top wines on the basis of the best track records according to reviews by top critics in blind-tastings around the world over the past 10 years. It’s
THE MURATIE Wine Estate has become a favourite stop-over off the R44 along the Simonsberg stretch of the Stellenbosch Wine Route, particularly since the Melck family stepped up a gear hospitality wise by offering meals from their Cellar Kitchen – either outdoors in the courtyard under oak trees or inside where ‘The Longroom’ and ‘Die Gat’ double as an art gallery with fireplaces, oak
