Posts
Laborie Blanc de Blancs 2019 surely MCC value champion 2025
THE privately-owned Laborie Estate is down the road from Warshay Investment's KWV Emporium – both in Paarl, both Cape wineland destinations in their own right, ...
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Vin de Constance, 1769, Grand Constance and then Gravitas…
GRAVITAS, the first of its kind from Constantia Uitsig, a sweet Muscat de Frontignan, vintage 2020, the fourth Constantia dessert wine on the market since ...
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Tokara Reserve Elgin Sauvignon Blanc a perennial favourite
UNWOODED, scored 95/100 at the Decanter World Wine Awards and 95 points at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, the 2024 Tokara Reserve Elgin Sauvignon ...
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Definition of a ‘Cape Blend' still far from set in stone
HOW WAS THAT! A panel tasting report published in the UK's Decanter magazine focusing on South Africa's ‘Cape red blends' that include Pinotage in the ...
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IWSC top-scorers include SA's Delaire Graff and Graham Beck
SOUTH AFRICA'S Delaire Graff, Graham Beck, Nederburg, Tokara, Zevenwacht… In the spotlight yet again with six wines in particular following the 2025 International Wine & ...
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SA Winemag doesn't think much of Pinotage – annual report
ONLY FIVE wines scored better than 92 and termed Outstanding, i.e. one rated 93 (low silver?), three 94 (high silver?), one scored 95 and none ...
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Taste South Africa’s finest at Caroline’s Red Wine Review
The 2025 edition of Caroline’s annual Red Wine Review, hailed as one of the most prestigious tasting events on the South African wine calendar, will be ...
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Perdeberg Chenin still right up there with the best of them
STILL AVAILABLE at the time of writing, costing just a little bit more than it did a month or so earlier when chosen as the ...
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Top wine panels' picks at under R150… under R100 even!
HIGHLY recommended, R80 a bottle ex-cellar and still available at the time of writing: Wellington Wines Duke Merlot 2023, one of the winners in the ...
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Stellenbosch Cab prevails again on the international stage
THE ANNUAL Decanter World Wine Awards: the biggest wine competition on the planet, held in London. In 2025, well over 16 000 entries from 57 ...
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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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