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Reviving the tradition of SA fortified and sweet wines…

OVER 150km / 1½hr drive from Cape Town, at the beach with not a vineyard in sight, The Saldanha Wine & Spirit Co of Adi ...
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Kaapzicht, Capensis, Meerlust get the thumbs-up from CWG

IT STANDS to reason that because members of the Cape Winemakers Guild include a number of South Africa's top cellarmasters, and as admission is by ...
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Arum at Boschendal an experience shaped by fire n farm

THE ARUM Restaurant at Boschendal is the newest dining experience at this estate in Franschhoek on the R310 to/from Pniel and Stellenbosch. At the time ...
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What more appropriate Pinotage to end the centenary with

GUARDIANS of the Pinotage legacy. That's how they refer to themselves at the Bellevue Wine Estate in Bottelary, Stellenbosch. It's from this farm, now owned ...
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Best Value SA Wine Champs 2025 – Top-Rated @ Under R100

FAIR AND SQUARE. No punches pulled… The trouble with best value competitions specifically for wines below a particular price ceiling concerns the preconceptions and bias ...
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Top South African wines according to top panels in 2025

SEVEN CATEGORIES of top wines from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ...
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Most highly rated Cap Classique sparkling wine in 2025

THE TOP Cap Classique sparkling wine from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ...
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South Africa's most highly rated Shiraz / Syrah in 2025

THE TOP Shiraz/Syrah from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind', i.e. labels ...
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South Africa's most highly rated Sauvignon Blanc in 2025

THE TOP Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind', i.e. ...
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South Africa's most highly rated Pinotage in 2025

THE TOP Pinotage from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind', i.e. ...
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South Africa's most highly rated Chenin Blanc in 2025

THE TOP Chenin Blanc from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind', ...
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South Africa's most highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon in 2025

THE TOP Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind', ...
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South Africa's most highly rated Chardonnay in 2025

THE TOP Chardonnay from South Africa as rated 96+ locally or internationally in 2025 by one or more of the respected panels tasting ‘blind', i.e. ...
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Pinotage a variety that Koelenhof Winery is rather good at

FROM a vineyard that recently turned 50, the current-release 2022 Stellenbosch 1679 Old Vine Pinotage is probably the best vintage of this wine since the ...
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Stellenbosch 1679: where history and fine wine(s) meet

Talk about a success story! Launched in 2019, the first of Koelenhof Winery’s flagship Stellenbosch 1679 range was the 2017 Bush Vine Chenin Blanc. Soon ...
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Chenin and Shiraz top-score in Platter's 2026 SA Wine Guide

TWO WINES scored 99 points on their 100-point scale. A first for Platter's South African Wine Guide. Most highly rated in the 2026 edition, the ...
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Top white wine at Veritas Awards from cellar within a cellar

WITHIN the large Perdeberg outfit in the north-western reaches of South Africa's Paarl district there's a boutique cellar where dry-farming (unirrigated) culminates in two special ...
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Delaire Graff and Whalehaven shine at Chardonnay Masters

SOUTH AFRICA'S good showing at the 2025 Global Chardonnay Masters in the UK was remarkable for a number of reasons. Among the gold medallists announced ...
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Perdeberg’s Endura: celebrating endurance in every sip

At the heart of Perdeberg’s winemaking philosophy lies a profound respect for resilience, and nowhere is that spirit more beautifully captured than in the Endura ...
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Neil Ellis Whitehall Chardonnay '22 getting better and better

THE GRAPES for négociant Neil Ellis's Whitehall Chardonnay don't come from the same vineyard that was used originally, but the Elgin beauty is as delightful ...
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Cape Bordeaux-style blend that had Veritas judges beaming

THE TOP-RATED wine going into the final round of judging at the 2025 Veritas Awards – the biggest, longest-running wine competition in South Africa where ...
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14 wine farm restaurants lauded in SA Gourmet Guide 2026

ONCE AGAIN the food critics have spoken – those whose votes count towards South Africa's JHP Gourmet Guide. And once again, La Colombe at Silvermist ...
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Taste the very finest at Caroline’s White Wine Review

Caroline’s 2025 edition of her annual White Wine & Cap Classique Review, one of the most prestigious tasting events on the South African wine calendar, ...
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First definitive book on South African Sauvignon Blanc

For the first time, the story of South Africa’s most popular white wine cultivar has been brought together in a single publication: The Story of ...
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Veritas Awards revisited… The scores of all the double golds

WELL, 99% of them…  A few of the wine producers who entered the 2025 Veritas Awards and went on to win double gold either didn't ...
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Great Sauvignon Blanc from across the Cape – ‘Top 10' in 2025

“FOUR VINTAGES. Wooded and unwooded. Three wards and six districts across three regions. This is the story of the 2025 FNB Sauvignon Blanc SA Top ...
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Perold wins at Veritas '25… But what was it up against?

NO MEAN FEAT! The most highly rated of over 1200 entries in the 2025 edition of the longest-running and biggest South African wine and spirit ...
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The humble Duke of Wellington a Top 10 Pinotage at R80pb

IT'S SURPRISING to find neither Kanonkop nor Rijk's among the winners of an Absa Top 10 – such are their good track records in this ...
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Top Shiraz from among smallest, highest blocks in Constantia

WINNER of the trophy for best South African red wine at the 2025 International Wine Challenge, the Beau Constantia Stella 2022 was released some months ...
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12 bottles of Mullineux Semillon sell for R50K – CWG Auction

THE 2024 VINTAGE of Mullineux ‘The Gris' Semillon WO Swartland fetched the top price at the 2025 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction conducted by Strauss & ...
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