THE FIRST outright winner of South Africa’s Top 10 Merlot Competition, Rainbow’s End in Banghoek on the Pniel side of Stellenbosch en route to Franschhoek, is in a beautiful corner of the Cape winelands, with the tasting room and lookout deck positioned on a hill to take full advantage of the view. For some time now, the estate up a
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 links to the various destinations should you wish to make
THE NUMBERS go some way to painting the picture! Fifteen of South Africa’s Top 20 Cabs are from Stellenbosch. Cabernet Sauvignon, that is. Ten of the country’s Top 20 wines from Pinotage are WO Stellenbosch. Eleven of the Top 20 Red Blends. Also, 11 of the Top 20 Chenins are from here, and nine of the Top 20 Chardonnays.
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 three of the publication’s judges: Master of Wine Michelle Cherutti-Kowal,
THE LIST of wine producers among the members of the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective is as interesting to contemplate as that of those who aren’t signed up, including David Finlayson (Edgebaston), Eikendal, Fleur du Cap (Distell), Rustenberg, Tokara and Zorgvliet! Nonethless, those members confirmed as exhibitors presenting current-release and older vintages at the ‘Cabernet Through the Ages’ tasting at Ernie Els’s
THERE ARE some who would like to change the name to Banhoek (without the ‘g’), but be that as it may. The valley in the eastern reaches of the Stellenbosch winelands comprises some top cellars and guesthouses that have banded together across the boundary lines which separate the wards of Banghoek and the Simonsberg on either side of the Helshoogte
WHO WOULD have thought that of the Top 100 winery destinations in the world, seven are in Lebanon, three in Russia? None in China, surprisingly enough, but there’s at least one worth seeking out in Japan, and one in India too! In the third year of the World’s Best Vineyards Academy awards organised and compiled by William Reed Business Media
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 was the judges’ favourite in a lineup of 90 wines
AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT! A Top 10 rating for every red and white that Tokara submitted for assessment in the various Winemag reports of 2020, with three of the bottlings judged best in their category: the 2017 Director’s Reserve (White Blend), the 2019 Reserve Chardonnay and the 2017 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – the latter also getting the nod as Best Red Wine
WITH THE 2020 addition of Chris Alheit and David Sadie, membership of the Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG) rose to 46 producers, whose names and those of the places they work at make for a list that in itself is a useful guide to much of the best from South Africa’s wine cellars. You only get to be on this list
THESE ARE the South African wines most highly rated in 2020, contenders for the title of SA Wine of the Year! Or should that be Winery of the Year, or Winemaker of the Year? Clearly some reviews count more than others. On the other hand, it says a lot when a wine wows more than one panel of experts
BELOW are the top Chardonnay producers in South Africa over the past 10 years, those with the best track records spanning 2008 to 2017, presented according to where you’ll find their tasting rooms on the various wine routes. For the 2018 SA Chardonnay Classification, see here, and for the contact info and addresses of those outfits that can be visited and/or
