THE ACHIEVEMENT of Iona with the 2021 Chardonnay in their Elgin Highlands range at the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) was impressive, to say the least. Of all the Chardonnays entered in the competition, it was one of only 16 rated 97+ on the judges’ 100-point scale and one of only three honoured among the ‘Best in Show’ (Top
SOUTH AFRICA has a number of fine Chardonnay cellars, and that of Paul Clüver on De Rust Estate in Grabouw counts as one of the very best. Pioneers of the Elgin wine district in the Cape South Coast, the farmers, winemakers and business folk on the team also know their stuff when it comes to Pinot Noir, Riesling and Sauvignon
COGNAC, ARMAGNAC, CAPE BRANDY… An acquired taste, some would argue. Thrice as strong as most red and white wines. Aqua vitae, the water of life! Distilled wine, in basic terms, but in its finest form a wonderful spirit savoured in sips. And those bottles… Medicine for the soul! Originating in the vineyards, as they do, the brandies of South Africa
OF THE FIVE Worcester wineries that qualify for the South African Cellar Classification, one has made a success of a flagship range associated with places outside the district. The most established of Overhex proprietor Gerhard van der Wath’s Survivor wines, the Pinotage and Chenin Blanc, are made using Swartland grapes harvested over 100km away, as is the Syrah. The Survivor
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
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 the links for more information and how to book a
HARD TO BELIEVE that 20 years ago this wine route was still struggling to get off the ground, so to speak. Whereas today, not only is Elgin home to some of the country’s top cellars but numerous wineries in Stellenbosch and elsewhere use grapes from the area and proudly proclaim as much on their labels. Many of the wine-tasting venues
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 the panel of tasters including Winemag editor Christian Eedes (chair),
THE SECOND annual Mosaic Top 5 Pinot Noir Wine Awards were contested by 42 producers who submitted 64 entries from various areas in South Africa, primarily from the Walker Bay district (24), Elgin (16) and Stellenbosch (6). Incredibly, four of the five winning producers in 2021 (see below) were among the previous winners in 2020, albeit with just a
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 77 and Australia’s 49, and Elgin cellar Paul Cluver was
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 the first (Cab-led) red blend in the premium ‘Stellenbosch 1679’
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
IN THE LAST of the world’s major wine competitions of the year, Boschendal (Franschhoek) and Groot Constantia (Cape Town) scooped two of the top trophies going – Boschendal Elgin Chardonnay 2018 named top South African White Wine and Groot Constantia Sauvignon Blanc 2019 judged best Sauvignon Blanc. Period. This was the first time in 10 years that the top Sauvignon
IT WAS AS recently as 2012 that British Master of Wine Richard Kershaw established his business in Elgin to make world-class Chardonnay, Shiraz and Pinot Noir that would show a sense of place. Today he is widely acknowledged as one of the top producers in South Africa, one with an academic leaning, a bent for geography, and the labels
TAKE IN THE VIEW of Lothian Vineyards and you may well think you’re somewhere other than Elgin. The hills and mountains around the edge of the ‘basin’ are a giveaway that you’re in this beautiful part of the Cape winelands once more often associated with apple farming, but the Wilson’s outfit is off the beaten track relative to most
THE VAST majority of entries at the annual Concours Mondial du Sauvignon 2020 were from the 2019 and 2018 vintages, but there was a South African that stood out for being way older than most: vintage 2012 of the Delaire Graff Coastal Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc, made using a combination of grapes sourced from the districts of Durbanville, Stellenbosch, Darling and
MANY ARE UNAWARE or forget that in parts of the world the cultivation of wine grape varieties is stictly controlled. As some well know, this was once the case in South Africa, whereas now you can plant anything anywhere, so to speak. Naturally, there are some areas that are better suited to wine farming than others, and certain grape varieties
A SIGN OF THE TIMES! You can no longer find a really good Cap Classique bubbly at under R100 a bottle and it won’t be long before the same applies to various other categories – white and red, dry and sweet. In the 2020 edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide published this month, around 350 wines were in the
ALTHOUGH they make some of the good Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc for which Elgin is famous, Almenkerk Estate in the middle of the valley is more renowned among some wine lovers for their reds – and we’re not talking Pinot Noir, for which the area is also well known. The Belgian/Dutch Van Almenkerk family is one of just two
