Posts
Cellar Artistry – Pierneef Atelier 2020, Pierneef Sauvignon '24
The 2020 and 2024 vintages of La Motte’s Pierneef Syrah-driven blend and Pierneef Sauvignon Blanc respectively are more than cellarmaster Edmund Terblanche’s artistic interpretation of ...
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Top SA wines under R200pb is one thing, but under R100pb?!
JUST A COUPLE of days was all it took. By Wednesday 11 June, the top-scoring white blend at South Africa's 2025 Trophy Wine Show was ...
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Cilmor of Worcester THE discovery at Trophy Wine Show
OF THE 650 wines judged at South Africa's 2025 Trophy Wine Show, 40 were scored 95+ to earn gold medals (see below), and of those, ...
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SA No. 1 at Syrah du Monde – Babylonstoren Shiraz 2022
PRODUCED at Koos Bekker's estate in Paarl using grapes from the farm's vineyards below the Simonsberg, Babylonstoren Shiraz has been one of South Africa's most ...
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Le Grand Best Cab Overall at International Wine Challenge
FOR THE FIRST time in five years, South Africa won one of the most prestigious awards at the International Wine Challenge in London, with Le ...
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Paarl and Cederberg cellars strike gold in the Rhône Valley
BABYLONSTOREN and Cederberg Wines struck gold at the 2025 (19th) edition of Syrah du Monde, the international competition held in France's Rhône Valley. There were ...
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Top honours in Winemag Chenin Report go to Perdeberg, Paarl
THE COMPETITION winners in the South African Winemag's 2024 Prescient Chenin Blanc Report have a history of glowing reviews for their ‘Perdeberg Dry Land Collection ...
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WO Swartland & Ceres triumph in Winemag's Shiraz Report
HOW ABOUT THAT! Two wins in succession for the Riebeek Valley Wine Co in the SA Winemag's annual Prescient Shiraz Report, with the Riebeek-Kasteel winery's ...
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Capensis Kliphuis… Stellenbosch Chardonnay showcase of note
THE GOOD people of Capensis don't have their own winery, and would rather not say where it is that they're renting cellar space. But does ...
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Sophisticated, classy wine-tasting in the Constantia Valley
IT'S ONE OF the most chic venues in South Africa's Cape winelands – a classy wine-tasting lounge, bar and terrace as well as a bistro ...
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Decanter panel raves about ‘stellar' SA Chardonnay
“THEY STOOD toe-to-toe with Hawke's Bay and Margaret River [of Australia] and all but the finest Burgundy [of France]”. High praise indeed from the panel ...
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South Africa ranked eighth among top wine producers – OIV
THE FOLLOWING are among the statistics presented by the International Organisation of Vine & Wine in the OIV's 2025 report on the state of the ...
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L'Avenir Grand Pinotage absolute favourite at G&G Challenge
HOW ABOUT THAT! First, that the Pinotage Association put the Grand Pinotage “project” to the test in a blind tasting of the 2019 vintage conducted ...
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Best Bottles from SA Wine Farms with Highly Rated Restaurants
SO THE RESTAURANT critics have pronounced on the top farms to lunch or dine at in the Cape, among the vines, but which wines from ...
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Top restaurants on South Africa's wine farms, among the vines
AS INTERESTING as the choice of top laureates at South Africa's 2025 Eat Out Restaurant Awards in Cape Town were the names of the newcomers ...
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From really old Pinotage vines… Meerendal Heritage Block
THE NUMBER of wines on the market that are made from seriously old Pinotage vineyards (way over 50 years) edged back up from three to ...
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Exploring bubbly at its best: the findings of ‘A Glass Act'
THE FLUTE is dead… Long live the flute! You could say the same about the coupe… Wine glasses, that is, stemware for sparkling wine specifically. ...
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Tuscan-inspired Bordeaux-style Collector’s Red of note
Every three months, members of Caroline’s Quarterly Wine Club look forward to more new discoveries from top South African producers. “Wine lovers can sit back ...
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South Africa excels among ‘Chardonnays of the World'
IT'S HAPPENED again… And no doubt once more there will be naysayers, people who can't believe their eyes and ears, and yet… The humble, big-volume ...
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Pinotage on the menu is a thing at the Beyerskloof bistro
PINOTAGE, Pinotage, Pinotage… At the Truter family's Beyerskloof Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, they call themselves “The Home of Pinotage”, and for good reason. On the ...
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Small Parcels of wines with interesting backstories
Every three months, members of Caroline’s Quarterly Wine Club look forward to more new discoveries from top South African producers. “Wine lovers can sit back ...
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Paul Sauer, Columella, Vin de Constance… Auction highlights
STELLENBOSCH, Swartland, Constantia… Wine from Kanonkop, the Sadie Family and Klein Constantia were most in demand as regards South African producers represented at Strauss & ...
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A rather rare, very unusual wine… Cederberg Bukettraube
BUKETTRAUBE can be a lovely aromatic white wine, so why is David Nieuwoudt's outfit among the Cederberg mountains the only top South African producer that ...
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Special Discoveries from across the Cape winelands
Every three months, members of Caroline’s Quarterly Wine Club look forward to more new discoveries from top South African producers. “Wine lovers can sit back ...
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A rather rare, very unusual wine… Aliquid Novi Pinotage
A PINOTAGE that originates in a vineyard unlike any other: 24 double rows of vines planted in a fan-like semi-circle to expose the plants to ...
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SA wine town wine bars… In the villages, on the roadside
STELLENBOSCH, Franschhoek, Paarl, Hermanus, Stanford… Besides those tasting rooms on South Africa's wine farms, among the vines, there are wine bars in the towns of ...
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Boekenhoutskloof Syrah and Sadie Columella star on auction
AT THE timed, online Rhône Theme wine auction conducted by Strauss & Co on 10 February 2025, somebody paid over R8000 for a bottle of ...
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Cape Town wine bars 2025… The promise of a good time
IT'S NOT the same as going to the tasting room on a wine farm in amongst the vines, but sometimes a wine bar in town ...
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The Garland 2020 “silky, effortless” – Platter's No. 1 Cab
THE GARLAND 2020 from Simonsig in Koelenhof-Stellenbosch is the most highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2025 edition of Platter's South African Wine Guide. Five ...
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How much is too much for a tasting in the Cape winelands?
THERE ARE still some cellars on the Cape wine routes of South Africa where they don't charge you for a sip of their wines, a ...
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