FOR AN UPDATE of all the organic wines produced in South Africa that are officially certified as such, click here. Below are those from the Cape that received good to very good reviews from the top panels of experts in 2023. There are numerous winemakers and viticulturists who adhere to organic or biodynamic methods in the vineyard and cellar but
GLEN CARLOU has been a Chardonnay and Cabernet specialist since 1988. As they put it at the cellar on the slopes of the Simonsberg in Paarl, the conversation is led by ‘Quartz Stone Chardonnay’ and ‘Gravel Quarry Cabernet Sauvignon’ – two naturally-fermented, single-vineyard delights, which at the time of writing were on offer from the farm for R420pb and R530pb
AT LAST COUNT, the number of visitors to Groot Constantia stood at around 450 000 a year. It’s been the most popular wine farm in South Africa’s Cape winelands for some time, which is not to be confused with wine sales – gone are the days when ‘Joe Soap’ and ‘the man in the street’ would queue up at the
IF YOUR WINERY is fairly off the beaten track, perhaps your tasting room isn’t attracting quite as many guests as you’d like and you want to bolster your public profile, to take things to the next level, why not relocate where you do your entertaining? The Vondeling farm is in that corner of Paarl called Voor-Paardeberg, just ‘over the hill’
2018 is the eighth vintage of Babylonstoren’s Cap Classique. How time flies! The bottle-fermented sparkler has a good track record and this year could be the best to date. It’s certainly got off to an impressive start, released five years after harvest, gaining in complexity. Not just 5 Stars in the 2024 edition of Platter’s SA Wine Guide but, at
SHIRAZ from South Africa’s Hartenberg, Kleine Zalze and Cederberg cellars were among the top gold medallists at the international Syrah du Monde 2023. Contested by 20 countries, the competition takes place in Ampuis, a town in the Rhône region of France, where 80 of the 241 wines assessed during the panel tastings earned gold (34) and silver (46) medals. Australian
BRAND NEW on the Paarl wine route, off the beaten track, are the bistro, cellar and tasting room at Brookdale Estate of British businessman and property developer Tim Rudd. Among the foothills of the Klein Drakenstein mountains, the home of luxurious accommodation – and one of the most talked-about South African Chenin Blancs on the world stage last year –
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
FOR MANY of us enjoying the wine routes of South Africa over the festive season in 2022/23, there’ll be a new destination we can’t wait to explore. A Paarl estate opening a new tasting room, a new restaurant, gearing up to use their new cellar for the first time. With just four vintages bottled to date, Brookdale has already attracted
STILL AVAILABLE at the time of writing on 17 August 2022: REALLY GOOD REDS UNDER R100 Brink Family Pinotage 2019 R90pb from Pulpit Rock cellar, Riebeek West. Finalist in Top 10 Pinotage Competition. MAN Skaapveld Syrah 2020 R85pb ex-cellar, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch. 97/100 at Trophy Wine Show. Windmeul Shiraz 2020 R70pb ex-cellar, Paarl. Finalist in Shiraz SA Challenge. REALLY GOOD WHITE UNDER
ON THE FARM Dekkersvlei in Klein Drakenstein, Paarl, Mellasat is off the beaten track. At these vineyards, proprietor Stephen Richardson, cellarmaster Gizelle Coetzee and their team like to do things somewhat differently. In fact this one’s never been done before… There’s nothing else quite like it. Not the first Cap Classique sparkling wine made using Pinotage to some degree, but
WITH SOME vintages it’s recommended that for a refreshing drink you can chill this blend, described by the De Villiers family as a “fun-loving” wine. In recent years, however, the Paul Hugo Red has over-delivered relative what you might expect from the second tier in Landskroon’s portfolio. The 2020 is one of the standouts since the maiden vintage 2006. Judged
WHY SPARKLING wine made according to the Mèthode Ancestral(e) is different relative to bubbly made the ‘traditional’ way – aka Champagne, Cava and Cap Classique – is that the fermentation involves a single, continuous process. From a stainless-steel tank, the fermenting wine is bottled and sealed at the point where there is just enough grape sugar remaining to make for
ANCESTRAL(E)… Oldest method of making sparkling wine, whereby the wine is bottled during the (single) fermentation process, before the completion of alcoholic fermentation. (Excerpt from Mini Wine Encyclopaedia on Top Wine SA) Less involved, a shorter route to bottling than Champagne (France), Cava (Spain) or Cap Classique (South Africa). No second fermentation, and no dosage (addition of sugar-and-wine ‘liqueur’) after
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
IT’S NOT the first museum in South Africa’s winelands, but the latest creation at Koos Bekker and Karen Roos’s Babylonstoren on the Simonsberg foothills in Paarl is one of the standouts when it comes to the various bonus attractions on the farms, among the vineyards, i.e. besides the cellars, tasting rooms, restaurants, farm stalls, gift shops and places to stay.
FROM THE FOOTHILLS of Paarl Rock Mountain to the Simonsberg, Voor Paardeberg and beyond, this is a wine route encompassing some of South Africa’s biggest cellars as well as some of its smallest. Babylonstoren, Fairview and Spice Route are among the most popular tourist destinations in this district where the boundary lines separating Paarl from Franschhoek and Stellenbosch can
THE “SECOND EVER” panel-tasting of Pinotage by Decanter in the UK was described by judge Greg Sherwood MW as “a huge success”, with the results published in the Feb 2022 issue of the magazine. It had been over 20 years since the publishers last reviewed this class of red wines in such a focused manner and the jury praised
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,
