THIRD TIME LUCKY? Chamonix of Franschhoek had earned gold medals at previous editions of the Cab Franc Challenge with their 2015 and 2016 vintages in 2018 and 2020 respectively. Then, come 2022, they won the overall title with their 2020 vintage. But the Challenge judges haven’t been the only ones
EVEN WHEN IT comes to the Top 100 Cellars on the various wine routes of South Africa, not all of them are open to the public for tastings and sales all week, all weekend, i.e. including Sundays. See below for those that are, what their Sunday trading hours are plus
OF SOUTH AFRICA’S top wine cellars that are open to the public, some have taken their tasting-room experience to another level when it comes to matching what’s in the glass with what’s on the plate, or vice versa. See below for what is currently on offer – just click on
JUST OVER an hour’s drive (around 80km) from Cape Town, the ‘French corner’ of the Cape winelands – east of Stellenbosch and Paarl – is one of the most popular wine routes in South Africa. Numerous guesthouses and Airbnb options, as well as a wine tram connecting one end
2022 HAD ALREADY got underway when Decanter (UK) announced the names of their Wines of the Year 2021. Experts around the world and on the Decanter team nominated those wines that had impressed them most during the year to October 2021, and these were then re-assessed by a panel comprising
Old Road Grand-mère Semillon 2017 • Gold Medal, Best in Class at Trophy Wine Show (SA) • Gold Medal at International Wine Challenge (UK) Old Road 12 Mile Syrah 2018 • Gold Medal at International Wine & Spirit Competition (UK) AND THESE ARE just the stars of the range in
THERE WERE 125 entries from various parts of the South African winelands submitted for Winemag’s 2021 Prescient Sauvignon Blanc Report. Most were unwooded, some were wooded and some comprised blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon (albeit that this isn’t always disclosed on the labels). And there were plenty that delighted
BOTH OF the top-scoring wines in Winemag’s 2021 Cape White Blend Report were from the Wildeberg outfit in Franschhoek. A pretty impressive showing by Cellarmaster JD Rossouw and the team, and not for the first time. Last year, the 2019 Wildeberg Red blend was selected among the winners of the
FRANCE and Australia were the most successful nations at the 2021 International Wine Challenge in London, one of the biggest competitions of its kind – thousands of entries from over 50 countries, with numerous panels judging over a couple of weeks. South Africa secured 13 gold medals, compared to France’s
THERE WERE A NUMBER of familiar labels among the ‘Best in Class’ and ‘Wine of the Year’ laureates that shone in the 2021 SA National Wine Challenge, but nobody could have anticipated the identity of the overall red wine champion. A newcomer from the Koelenhof Winery, The Legacy 2017 is
IT’S NOT OFTEN that the Winemag panel chaired by editor Christian Eedes rates anything higher than 95 on their 100-point scale, but do so they did after sniffing and sipping the 2020 Filly Chenin Blanc from Cavalli Estate on the foothills of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch. Described as ‘profound’, it
AS WINEMAG points out, there is no official definition for a ‘Cape White Blend’, but their proposal is that such wines, as opposed to the Bordeaux-style Semillon-and-Sauvignon-Blanc combos, can be made from any combination of varieties as long as they include a significant Chenin Blanc component, specifically more than 15%
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