INTERESTING it was to see the brands involved and what the charitably minded were keen to buy at the 2018 Cape Wine Auction hosted at Rustenberg and Tokara in Stellenbosch. The prime objective of the two-day event is to support children’s education in needy communities of the South African winelands, and to this end the amount raised came to R17.5 million.
FOR THOSE who’d like to hear from the person behind Top Wine SA… If you want to listen to a little of what the man has to say about the site – or perhaps you’re just curious as to what he sounds like six years after the launch… Wine critic Carrie Adams of the fine wine and spirit merchant Norman
LOVELY news it was to hear that the historic-but-neglected Lievland Wine Estate in the foothills of the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch is to be returned to its former glory. At least, that’s the aspiration of the new owners who acquired the 300-year-old, 110ha farm from Dr Susan Colley for an undisclosed sum – presumably in excess of R50-million, given the status of esteemed
BACK IN THE DAY, when the first SA Wine & Cellar Classification was published, the top producers were Classified as Boekenhoutskloof, De Toren, De Trafford, Graham Beck, Jordan, Kanonkop, Kanu, Neil Ellis, Rust en Vrede, Rustenberg, Simonsig, Stellenzicht, Thelema, and Vergelegen. Thirteen years later, most of these cellars continue at the forefront of the South African wine industry as regards
BASED ON THE BEST track records in over 30 local and international forums for the assessment of wine quality and interest value over the past 10 years, the South African Wine & Cellar Classifications celebrate the country’s leading outfits – those regularly on top form, their product judged top-notch again and again, year after year. To be eligible for the
“THE 2000 hectares of old vines that South Africa has is important… It’s part of our history, part of our future, but it’s not going to take our industry forward… What about the other 95 000 hectares!” So reasons Bruwer Raats, applauded as top producer in Platter’s SA Wine Guide, champion of the varieties Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, outspoken winemaker
IF YOU’RE contemplating which Franschhoek wineries to buy from, the following have the best track records in the valley over the past 10 years – full SA Wine & Cellar Classifications here. ALLÉE BLEUE Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Chenin Blanc L’Amour Toujours (Red Blend) Pinotage BELLINGHAM The Bernard Series Basket Press Syrah The Bernard Series Bush Vine Pinotage The Bernard Series
UNLIKE the annual Nederburg Auction of rare South African wines in Paarl, the annual Cape Winemakers Guild Auction of rare South African wines at Spier in Stellenbosch is open to anybody and offers limited releases made exclusively for sale at this event and packaged as such – with no reserve prices. These are mostly young wines, some special cellar- or vineyard-selections,
ACCORDING to statistics provided by the Paris-based International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) in June 2017, the area under vine throughout the world was estimated at 7.5 million hectares in 2016, with total wine production estimated at 267 million hectolitres (9% less than in 2015). South Africa now ranks seventh among the biggest wine-producing countries in the world: 1 Italy (50.9
THE 2017 Drinks International Wine Tourism Challenge (UK) culminated with awards for Best Visitor Centre (Codorniu in Spain), Most Innovative Experience (Vineyard Tour Guide App at Yealands in New Zealand), Best Food and Wine Matching (Zonin’s Castello di Albola in Italy), Best Retail Experience (Gonzalez Byass in Spain), Best Promotional Body (Stellenbosch Wine Routes), Best Wine Event (Harvest and From Vine
THE 2017 SA Cellar Classification confirms the ‘who’s who’ of the Cape winelands when it comes to those producers whose wines have been most fancied most often by panels of experts around the world during the 10-year period 2007 to 2016. And in this regard, obviously, the Top 20 outfits overall make for a rather special bunch. In general, the reputation
ACCORDING to statistics announced by the Paris-based International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), the world’s area under vine stands at 7.5 million hectares with total wine production at 274.4 million hectolitres. South Africa now ranks eighth among the biggest wine-producing countries in the world: 1 Italy (49.5 million hectolitres), 2 France (47.5 mhl), 3 Spain (37.2 mhl), 4 USA (22.1 mhl), 5 Argentina (13.4
NEDERBURG of Paarl consistently puts together really good Sauvignon Blanc for their exclusive wine auction once a year, and Graham Beck of Robertson had a really good track record with their Pheasants’ Run before they decided to focus solely on Cap Classique bubblies made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Apart from these, however, there are just four producers whose Sauvignon Blancs qualified for the Top
THERE ARE some stretches along the beautiful wine routes of Stellenbosch that offer a better hit-rate than others for those in search of the best – strips of road with members of the Top 100 ‘club’ on either side in the sort of concentration that makes it possible to visit several within an hour or two without breaking the speed limit. Off the R44 to Somerset
SMALL POINT BUT… Why have a menu at the home of such South African marvels as Beyerskloof Pinotage, blends including the country’s ‘indigenous’ variety, and the Pinotage burger, that lists some items in French, Italian, etc? However, moving right along… The Red Leaf Bistro is one of the hotspots on the Stellenbosch wine route, particularly since the restaurant was revamped and the range of
GOODBYE to Pheasants’ Run Sauvignon Blanc, hasta la vista Bowed Head Chenin Blanc, The Ridge Syrah, Coffeestone Cabernet and then some – at least under the Graham Beck banner, that is! In a brand rationalisation that will see everything without a bubble stripped from the range, Robertson’s leading sparkling wine producer and one of South Africa’s top three Méthode Cap Classique
ENCHANTED it is. There’s nothing else like it in the winelands of the Cape. A boardwalk alongside a stream through a forest on the farm Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek, meandering this way and that between some wonderful trees that include Cape holly, wild almond and white alder, African red alder, white poplar and English oak. There is also some Cape Beech (Boekenhout) that the
An excerpt from a newsletter on the website of Thelema Mountain Vineyards, one of South Africa’s top wine farms on the Simonsberg mountain in Stellenbosch: “Fire is an obvious risk in our location and we try to prepare for this by sending our staff on fire-fighting courses, establishing fire breaks and getting water and fire hoses to the areas directly above
A MONTH AFTER the last flames to sweep over the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch had been extinguished, there were still no official reports as to the full extent of the damage and loss suffered on this special stretch of the Cape winelands. Thankfully there were no human casualties, but the fires were devastating, with farms in the path of the inferno left totting up the
OF COURSE, the R15-million raised for various charities thanks to the third AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction – this time at Klein Constantia – was laudable. A worthy cause, for sure: education of the needy in the Cape winelands. But the annual fundraiser also points to hedonistic stuff, highlighting decadent things enjoyed by those fortunate or deserving enough to indulge in the ultimate taste
