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Record price fetched for Vin de Constance… once again!
Mike Froud
12 June 2024
WHAT A DIFFERENCE a year makes! Or doesn't… Apparently some of those bidding during the timed online auction of sweet wines that concluded on 10 ...
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La Motte releases new vintages of Sauvignon and Cabernet
Mike Froud
7 June 2024
With Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Youth Day all happening in May and June, family relationships are top of mind. As a result, it was ...
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Trophy Wine Show of interest to both layman and connoisseur
Mike Froud
5 June 2024
KWV, Paarl. SCHENKFONTEIN! Where's that? Stofjas! What's that? Thor Semillon nothing to do with the Marvel fantasy! Port Capital comes second? Best value gold medallist ...
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National Wine Challenge winners include some familiar faces
Mike Froud
4 June 2024
NOT EXACTLY déjà vu, but more than a few of the winners at South Africa's National Wine Challenge in 2024 also collected top-of-the-class awards in ...
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Another winner from the Riebeek Valley: RAAR Shiraz 2023
Mike Froud
2 June 2024
‘RAAR' translates as ‘rare' or ‘scarce' and, as such, is regarded by the Riebeek Valley Wine Company as a fitting name for their range of ...
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Saronsberg ranked No. 1 at Syrah du Monde 2024, France
Mike Froud
30 May 2024
PATIENCE required... The 2022 Saronsberg Shiraz came top at the 2024 Syrah du Monde held in the Rhône, France. This just weeks after the Tulbagh ...
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Rare beauty from the Karoo winelands: Le Sueur Chenin Blanc
Mike Froud
28 May 2024
KLEIN KAROO Chenin Blanc of note, from one of the ambassadors for the region Louis Le Sueur van der Riet. Small batch, hand crafted, very ...
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Flagstone Paradigm: Best Overall in Winemag's Chenin Report
Mike Froud
24 May 2024
THERE WERE 75 single-variety South African Chenins submitted for assessment in Winemag's 2024 Prescient Chenin Blanc Report, with 49 rated 90-plus and three of these ...
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Highest scores ever awarded for Shiraz by the Winemag panel
Mike Froud
22 May 2024
THE TASTING PANEL of South Africa's Winemag.co.za has never scored any glass of red or white higher than 96 out of 100, and prior to ...
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Six particularly good value wines at under R150 a bottle
Mike Froud
19 May 2024
THERE ARE very few SA wines selling for Under R150pb being showcased on Top Wine SA as of May '24. Which says a couple of ...
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Cape Chardonnay impresses at IWC 2024
Mike Froud
16 May 2024
CHARDONNAYS from Lothian Vineyards of Elgin and Whalehaven of Hermanus were South Africa's top-scoring gold medallists at the 2024 International Wine Challenge in London. The ...
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Escape from the norm – a wine festival like no other
Mike Froud
11 May 2024
SPECIALIST retailer Wine Concepts is thrilled to invite Cape Town residents and visitors to their annual festival unlike any other in South Africa: The Grape ...
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Another reason to travel down to Jonkershoek in Stellenbosch
Mike Froud
3 May 2024
THISTLE & WEED is what winemaker Stephanie Wiid and viticulturist Etienne Terblanche call their boutique cellar alongside the Jonkershoek Road in Stellenbosch – on the ...
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South Africa ranked No. 7 among top wine-producing nations
Mike Froud
27 April 2024
SPEAKING about the state of the wine industry worldwide from the International Organisation of Vine & Wine headquarters in Dijon, France, the OIV's director general ...
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Still a while to wait for the Cab Franc Challenge winner
Mike Froud
23 April 2024
THERE ISN'T much of South Africa's 2024 Cab Franc Challenge winner, and at the time of writing – after the results went public, a week ...
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No surprises at Strauss & Co's ‘Bordeaux Auction'
Mike Froud
17 April 2024
IT WAS A tussle between Meerlust and Kanonkop for the highest price fetched by South African wine at Strauss & Co's ‘Bordeaux Auction' conducted online ...
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Hunting for top wines from South Africa's really old vines
Mike Froud
13 April 2024
SOUTH AFRICA'S old-vine wine certification requires that the plants should be more advanced in years than the majority, however some would argue that the authorities ...
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The most ‘luxurious' wines of South Africa – R1500 pb plus
Mike Froud
8 April 2024
GENERALLY SPEAKING, these are not wines submitted for reviewing by any of the top panels locally or internationally – although occasionally there are some wonderful ...
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What?! Paarl wine farm has fans chuckling on April Fools' Day
Mike Froud
2 April 2024
“Fairview Wine and Cheese unveils revolutionary ‘Goat Labour' initiative” “In a move that has raised eyebrows and provoked uproar among traditionalists, Fairview Wine and Cheese, ...
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South Africa's top ORGANIC wine ratings during the past year
Mike Froud
29 March 2024
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 ...
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First of South Africa's champion white wines in 2024
Mike Froud
27 March 2024
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 ...
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When a gold medal meant the same at every show…
Mike Froud
21 March 2024
OH THAT there could be an internationally accepted, universally agreed-upon 100-point system for scoring wine. If only the convenors of the competitions, shows, challenges and ...
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Glen Carlou ranks among Top 10 at Chardonnay du Monde
Mike Froud
19 March 2024
SOUTH AFRICA achieved three gold medals at the 2024 edition of Chardonnay du Monde in Burgundy, France, with one of the winning wines – the ...
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Savage red blend outdoes Sadie's in auction of 10-year-olds
Mike Froud
12 March 2024
STRAUSS & Co's wine department was happy with the results of their timed online ‘2014 Vintage' auction that came to a close on 11 March ...
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The latest prices of South Africa's most highly rated wines
Mike Froud
7 March 2024
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 ...
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Wine festivals aplenty in March 2024… Too many perhaps?
Mike Froud
1 March 2024
CHOICES CHOICES CHOICES… Tickets for ‘Wine on the Water' in St Francis Bay are very hard to come by and those to the Stellenbosch Street ...
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Stark-Condé… Hall of Fame winery, good-value lunch
Mike Froud
23 February 2024
STARK-CONDÉ. In the Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch. On the Oude Nektar farm, to the south-east of the town. Home to one of South Africa's most highly ...
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Go Wellington – wine route revival prompts closer inspection
Mike Froud
21 February 2024
ODDLY ENOUGH, not all of the cellars in Wellington are members of the local wine route. Not officially, that is. For example, Mischa Estate to ...
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Constantia Glen… Hall of Fame winery, good lunch
Mike Froud
15 February 2024
CONSTANTIA GLEN. Down the main road from the Constantia Nek traffic circle for those travelling via Hout Bay or Bishop's Court / Newlands in Cape ...
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Sadie Family Columella 2015 goes for R5472pb on auction
Mike Froud
14 February 2024
THE Sadie Family of the Paardeberg outside Malmesbury in the Swartland dominated proceedings in terms of the highest prices paid for South African wines at ...
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