MORGENSTER Cab 2014 at R100 a bottle, Croydon Covenant Cab 2017 at R110, Glenelly Glass Collection Cab 2016 at R115 and Maastricht Cab 2017 at R120. These are the best-priced of the top-scoring wines in the 2019 Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report compiled by Winemag.co.za. The most glowing assessments went to the Croydon and to a 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon from Rust
A WINE you have to try, if you haven’t already. Once experienced, it’s one of those South African reds that wine lovers want to revisit in one form or another every vintage, at least. Cabernet Franc from Raats! There’s the Raats Dolomite, the flagship Raats Family and the Eden High Density Single Vineyard. And at under R200pb, the Dolomite
ASSESSING 77 submissions for their 2019 Alternative Varieties Report, South Africa’s Winemag panel of Christian Eedes (chair), Roland Peens and James Pietersen stopped short of declaring anything to be extraordinary or profound but were impressed, finding 40 wines to be excellent (90 to 92/100) to outstanding (93 to 95/100). Top score went to a Semillon from the Simonsberg-Paarl cellar
BEST in Constantia, one of the Top 10 in South Africa. Groot Constantia Chardonnay is one of the three most successful wines from the grandest estate on the Cape Peninsula, among the country’s Top 100 Wines Overall and in the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame. Last year the 2017 vintage was a star at the National Wine Challenge and considered Outstanding
WHITES from Tokara and Raats, reds from Haut Espoir, La Bri, Rustenberg, Remhoogte and Tokara, sweets from Nederburg and Boplaas… The top-scoring South African producers in Winemag’s 10 Year Old Report 2019. To quote Christian Eedes, who chaired the three-man panel that included Roland Peens and James Pietersen of Cape Town merchant Wine Cellar: “The 2009 vintage is generally considered
WITH THE possible exception of the 2014 vintage, Cape Point Vineyards’ flagship white blend Isliedh hasn’t missed a beat: among the Top 10 of its kind in the SA Wine Classification, one of South Africa’s Top 100 wines over the past 10 years, included in the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame and, at the time of writing, just voted
“IS SOUTH AFRICAN Chardonnay suffering from ‘tall poppy syndrome’?” asked Winemag’s Christian Eedes in the 2018 Prescient Chardonnay Report. “In the past decade or so, the variety as made locally has achieved notable prominence but there has been a tendency in more recent times to disparage it in some quarters, the argument being that it is still some distance behind other New World
THE FOLKS at Creation on Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge must have mixed feelings about the award for Best Wine Overall in Winemag’s 2018 ‘Tonnellerie-Saint-Martin Pinot Noir Report’. A score of 93 points (out of 100) equates to an “outstanding” wine in the opinion of panellists Christian Eedes (chair), Roland Peens and James Pietersen (both of Cape Town retailer Wine Cellar), all respected judges.
THE BABYLONSTOREN spread of billionaire businessman Koos Bekker off the Klapmuts Road between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek is best known for its beautiful gardens, orchards, greenhouse, restaurant, hotel and spa. So popular is this destination in the Paarl district that they charge to have a look at the place, booking a table for lunch in what was once an old cow
THEY CONCEDE that it was challenging for the panel to review a line-up of very different red blends, some Shiraz-led, Cape Blends in which Pinotage dominated, some including more than half a dozen component varieties, others made from grapes usually grown for making port-style wines, etc. But Christian Eedes, chairman of the judges including Roland Peens and James Pietersen of
IN THE 2018 report on South African Bordeaux-Style Red Blends by Winemag.co.za, six wines were rated outstanding (93 to 94 out of 100) and 27 were considered excellent (90 to 92). In total, 81 wines from 64 producers were reviewed by the panel comprising Winemag’s Christian Eedes (chair), Roland Peens and James Pietersen (both of Cape Town merchant Wine Cellar).
NEDERBURG has no fewer than THREE Cabernet Sauvignon listings in the 2018 South African Wine Classification, and it’s the only cellar in the country with two wines among the country’s Top 10 Cabs as regards best track records – two of only three that originate outside Stellenbosch! When the 2015 vintage of The Manor House was judged No. 1 in Winemag’s
OVER THE TOP? Perhaps. But while there are very few occasions when you can feel relaxed talking about a No. 1 rather than a Top 10, say, surely this is one of them. The 2015 vintage of Mount Bullet from Shannon Vineyards was judged Best Merlot in South Africa’s 2018 National Wine Challenge and awarded top score in Winemag’s annual Merlot
NO FEWER than 34 of the 89 wines reviewed for the 2018 Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report were considered excellent (90 to 92 points on the 100-point scale). Better still, six more of South Africa’s beauties were regarded as outstanding (93 to 95). And interestingly, the judges’ favourite on the day is from outside Stellenbosch! Full report here. TOP 6 IN
NITIDA winemaker Daniel Keulder tells of how in 2012 the Wild Child “started off as a bit of an experiment with a wild ferment in a couple of barrels”. Hence the name of a Sauvignon Blanc still made largely using a method involving natural or indigenous rather than inoculated or cultured yeast, one of several wines produced from this variety at
FOCUSING on single-variety wines of South Africa that fall outside the mainstream, Winemag.co.za’s 2018 Alternative Varieties Report includes 26 wines reviewed as excellent (90 to 92/100) and four as outstanding (93 to 95/100) – this from a line-up of 97 wines. The judges, – editor and panel chair Christian Eedes with online retailer Wine Cellar’s Roland Peens and James Pietersen – found
PUBLICATION of the 2017 Prescient Chardonnay Report on Winemag.co.za prompted debate about the standout examples made from this variety in South African cellars as reviewed this year to date. Perhaps the most celebrated for top quality: DeMorgenzon Reserve 2016 at R350pb, Eikendal 2015 at R163, Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection 2016 at R93 and Rustenberg Five Soldiers 2015 at R400pb, all from
THERE WERE 52 entries from 33 South African producers assessed for the 2017 Pinot Noir Report on Winemag.co.za. The top-scoring wines were as follows (see below), with Creation Reserve Pinot Noir 2015 judged best overall: “Gleaming garnet with an inviting bouquet… Peppercorn and clove… Layers of dried fruit mingle with hints of raspberry and piquant spice… A lingering wine with
IN THE fifth Winemag.co.za Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Blend Report (referred to in previous years as the White Hot Wine Awards) now presented together with Wooded Sauvignon Blanc reviews, 34 of the 56 South African wines assessed scored 90 points or higher in accordance with the online publication’s 100-point quality scale. Judged Best Overall: Nitida Coronata Integration 2016, WO Durbanville. According
AT THE HEIGHT of summer the temperature on Dirk Malan’s farm outside the town of Keimoes approaches 50 degrees C – particularly in the ‘Berg Shiraz’ block that forms the basis of the Lyra Vega blend, a vineyard up against a klip koppie (hill of stone). It can be very dry too. Even with the help of irrigation, wine farming alongside
