ALSO KNOWN as Alvarinho in Spain and Portugal where it is used to make white wines including Vinho Verde, the Albariño grape was used for the first time in South Africa at Newton Johnson Vineyards in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside Hermanus. Maiden vintage: 2015. Though Pinot Noir specialists, the family’s expertise has long extended to Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc,
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
MANY WOULD ARGUE that their Chardonnay is more impressive than their Pinot, and they make some other outstanding wines here too – with a number of the cellars’ beauties originating in vineyards outside the area! But it tends to be Pinot Noir that the Hemel-en-Aarde winelands are best known for, and certainly its what the winemakers make the most noise
WHAT TO make of it?! Over 200 wineries exhibiting at the ‘Critics’ Choice Grand Tastings’ of Wine Spectator’s 2021 New York Wine Experience in October and Grand Tour of Las Vegas, Washington and Chicago in December: perhaps surprisingly, most (62) from Italy, then 51 of the USA, 28 from Spain, 23 from France, 15 from Portugal, 10 from Chile, 9
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),
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
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 ISN’T ANY Pinot Noir planted at Hemelzicht Vineyards right now, but give them time and the partners aim to be making “the best possible wines in the Hemel-en-Aarde” – the brains trust comprising members of the Newton Johnson family in the Upper reaches of the valley, entrepreneur and fellow local Cairo Howarth, together with wine merchant Roland Peens, director
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
CELEBRATING excellence and innovation, the ‘Great Wine Capitals’ Best Of Wine Tourism Awards recognise the top experiences on offer to those visiting the 11 greatest wine regions of the world, although, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only six of the 11 regions participated in the 2020 contest. The participants this year comprised 200 entrants in the winelands surrounding Adelaide (Australia),
IT HAS TO BE one of the most famous quotes to do with wine: “I only drink Champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it
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
THE PANEL tasting convenor: Decanter Magazine, United Kingdom. The focus: single-vineyard New World Pinot Noir. The judges: James Doidge (London-based importer), Roger Jones (UK restaurateur, wine critic, chef) and Master of Wine Dirccu Vianna (wine writer and educator in the UK). On the tasting bench: 100 wines, of which 43 were highly recommended, six were outstanding, with one regarded as
HUMBLE, respect for the land, with a sense of place, small scale, a family affair. He is the winemaker, she is the manager, their children share their names with the vineyards, and the wines are good, very good. No bells and whistles at this boutique outfit in the middle of the Hemel-en-Aarde – above the Valley proper, below the
THAT DE GRENDEL top-scored (95/100) in the South African Winemag’s 2019 Shiraz Report was not surprising: the cellar is one of the country’s Top 10 producers in this category. However, whereas the better-known Shiraz from this outfit on the Durbanville Wine Route is made from grapes harvested in Paarl and Stellenbosch, the loyalty-club exclusive orginates outside Elim in the district
THE 2019 Cape Wine Auction at Buitenverwachting in Constantia raised over R14-million, bringing the total raised at the event towards the education of needy children in the winelands of South Africa to around R88-million since the annual sale was first held in 2014. One of the highlights on offer was an item comprising 96 bottles of Pinotage from grapes grown
THE MANAGING editor of Wine Enthusiast in the USA, Lauren Buzzeo is a fan of South Africa and a regular visitor to the country. The magazine is one of the most influential in America’s wine trade and has a significant following among wine consumers in the States, but given Buzzeo’s recent post on ‘Where to Find the Best South African
HARDLY surprising! The Top 20 wines of Walker Bay come from the Top 10 producers in a district renowned for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – those with the very best track records in Bot River, the Hemel-en-Aarde and elsewhere in the area over the past 10 years according to the 2019 South African Wine & Cellar Classification. • For the
