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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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Wine Deck in Stellenbosch features chef's ‘unsung heroes'
IT'S A SMALL, narrow outdoor space, but the new Wine Deck at Mill St Bistro in Stellenbosch promises more than you might think at a glance. Where ...
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Top SA wines over the past 10 years – 2025 Classification
THERE ARE wines that impress occasionally with this and that vintage, then there are those that please on a fairly regular basis, and then there ...
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Casual take on fine-dining at La Motte's friendly new brasserie
AFTER a lengthy closure of the restaurant at La Motte in Franschhoek, the family farm of Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg re-opened its doors during the 2024/25 festive ...
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The Journal from Diemersdal! Top Pinotage in Platter's Guide
IT WAS scored 95/100 at the 2024 International Wine Challenge in the UK and was then judged best Pinotage reviewed in Platter's 2025 South African ...
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A rather rare, very unusual wine… Springfontein Chenel
AT SPRINGFONTEIN, outside the town of Stanford, the focus is on the South African grape varieties Pinotage and Chenel, albeit that the latter's arrival on ...
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Wild Horseshoe 2023! Top-rated white wine in Platter's Guide
THE MOST highly rated Sauvignon Blanc, the most highly rated white wine and one of the three most highly rated wines overall in the 2025 ...
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Saronsberg Shiraz 2022! Top-rated red wine in Platter's Guide
THE VAN HUYSSTEEN family's Saronsberg Cellar is renowned for a number of different wines, but Shiraz is the speciality on this farm in the Tulbagh ...
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Christine 2017! Top-rated red blend in Platter's 2025 Guide
MANY if not most of South Africa's top red wines released in 2024 are from the 2021 or 2022 vintages – two- or three-year-old wines. ...
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