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
BRING IT ON! October 2022 is brimming with top South African wine events, at least one of which is free… All you have to do to attend ‘That South Coast Show’ put on by the ‘new wave’ winemakers of The Cape South Coast on 4 October is to accept their invitation – just click on the RSVP button and
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
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
PRETTY NEAT! In 2021 they did it with their Finesse 2020. In 2022 they’ve done it with their Bateleur 2020. One of the Top 10 gold medallists at Chardonnay du Monde two years in succession. Up against top producers from around the world, and in Burgundy, France. Go De Wetshof! Go Robertson! There were 546 entries from 32 countries,
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.
IT WAS Brampton that got the ball rolling, and the ball has been picking up speed! First there was a single SA wine producer with a second home away from the vineyards in the centre of Stellenbosch, right in the middle of town, and now there are eight or so. Once a second label of Rustenberg, sold to DGB,
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
TOP WINE SA Hall of Fame, one of the Top 100 in the 2022 SA Wine Classification, among South Africa’s Top 10 Chenins and one of the country’s Wines of the Year in 2021. The 21 Gables barrel-fermented, barrel-matured Chenin Blanc from the Enthoven family’s Spier wine farm in Stellenbosch. Consistently top quality, always interesting and good value. Outstanding! The range of
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,
2020 IS THE NINTH vintage of the Field Blend from Stark-Condé, the fruit coming from an unusual vineyard on a slope close to the stream at the bottom of the Oude Nektar farm in Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch. The block has various soil types and is planted to a number of different white grape varieties – whereas most blocks of
THE LE RICHE cellar has always been there or thereabouts when considering South Africa’s leading producers of Cabernet Sauvignon over the past decade or so! However, the last three years have been particularly successful for the family, with rave reviews from critics locally and internationally, culminating in victory at the Global Fine Wine Challenge in Sydney where the 2018 vintage
THE STORY of Vilafonté has much to do with the brand, the positioning and marketing thereof. Front and centre though is a commitment to quality and a style that can “stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great wines of the world”. This is one of South Africa’s leading luxury wines, but not the smoke and mirrors variety. Here the degree of confidence
WHEN THE ‘sold out’ sign went up days before The Cap Classique 50 Year Celebration at Simonsig Estate in Stellenbosch where the story of MCC began, it was a reminder of how popular South Africa’s bottle-fermented sparklers have become among producers and consumers alike. Due to COVID regulations, regrettably only 250 wine lovers were given access to the walk-around tasting
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
OF THE SOUTH African wines auctioned by Strauss & Co on 25 July 2021, Cordoba Crescendo 2003 attracted most interest from the online bidders. Although, selling for R2150 a bottle (R12 898 for 6×750ml bottles), it fetched less than what many might have expected of such a ‘cult’ label, a Cab Franc-driven blend from the Helderberg in Stellenbosch – this vintage
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),
