ELGIN’S Paul Cluver, whose 2020 Estate Chardonnay was the top-scoring white at the 2022 Trophy Wine Show, has a distinguished track record for producing some of South Africa’s finest Chardonnays (and Pinot Noirs). Whereas Glen Carlou on the Simonsberg side of Paarl, whose 2019 Collection Red Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc was the top-scoring red wine at
Read moreKANONKOP, De Toren, Vilafonté, Meerlust, Raats, Alto… These were the most-wanted wines in terms of South African producers at Strauss & Co’s Bordeaux-themed auction conducted in Johannesburg mid-2022. Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2015 fetched nearly R4000 a bottle. SA ‘first growth’; good vintage. However, the really big-ticket items were from France, Italy and the USA: Pétrus, Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Haut Brion,
Read moreWHAT TO MAKE of the inaugural Top 10 Merlot Competition organised by the South African Merlot Forum, an industry association whose members include over 40 wine farms. 71 entries from the various districts around the Cape winelands. Not bad, considering it’s the first edition of this challenge, but a way to go given that there are in excess of
Read moreSOUTH AFRICA came away from the 2022 International Wine & Spirit Competition (UK) with more gold medals than any other country, including France. Of the thousands of wines entered, nearly 700 were from 169 producers in the Cape, with 88% of these awarded a medal: 28 gold, 234 silver and 355 bronze. Top-scoring for South Africa were Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon
Read moreYOU CAN COUNT the number of today’s Top Cape Vintage Port producers on one hand… Okay, maybe two. It’s very specialist, very niche, but very good. One or two in Stellenbosch, one or two in Paarl and Wellington, plus a few in various other districts, however it’s Calitzdorp that has been the Port Capital of South Africa for several decades
Read moreTHE 2020 VINTAGE of Neil Ellis’s Whitehall Chardonnay had only been on the market for a few months when it was included among the Top 4 in Winemag‘s 2021 South African Chardonnay Report. By the end of the year it had been Highly Recommended in Platter‘s SA Wine Guide, and after some more time in bottle it was considered 95+ on
Read moreTHE DECANTER World Wine Awards in the UK are mega. 18 244 entries in 2022, a world record as international wine competitions go. Judged over two weeks, with the various panels comprising some 250 experts including more than 41 Masters of Wine and 13 Master Sommeliers. 8074 bronze medals awarded, 5900 silvers, 676 golds, 165 platinum medals and 50 wines
Read moreTHE WINNER of Wineland Media’s 2022 photo competition, sponsored by FELCO and conducted via social media, was Nicolaas van Rensburg of the Breedekloof farm Morgenrood. The caption for his image: “A pot of Semillon at the end of the rainbow.” Semillon is one of the Breedekloof’s strengths, with the Deetlefs ‘Familie’ version from the family’s farm outside Rawsonville among the
Read moreA PINOTAGE-BASED red blend from the Flagstone winery in Somerset West, a Sauvignon Blanc from Paul Cluver in Elgin, a Cape Port from De Krans in Calitzdorp and the flagship Cap Classique sparkler from Graham Beck in Robertson. The four Wines of the Year at South Africa’s 2022 National Wine Challenge, and the producers were chuffed: “We are over the
Read moreUSED TO BE that Chateau Libertas from SFW/Distell represented many a South African wine lover’s staple red. That and the likes of a Groot Constantia dry red and KWV Roodeberg, if you could get it, Douglas Green St Augustine if you couldn’t. The sort of red you might graduate to after Tassenberg, before going on to, say, Alto Rouge or
Read moreTHERE ARE a number of South African wine estates that are farmed either organically or biodynamically but where the powers that be aren’t inclined to deal with the red tape or pay the costs associated with official certification. Then there are those producers who dip their toes in, so to speak, with one or two wines carrying the word ‘organic’
Read moreTHIRD TIME LUCKY? Chamonix of Franschhoek had earned gold medals at previous editions of the Cab Franc Challenge with their 2015 and 2016 vintages in 2018 and 2020 respectively. Then, come 2022, they won the overall title with their 2020 vintage. But the Challenge judges haven’t been the only ones in the know giving this wine the thumbs up –
Read moreTHREE wines of South Africa placed among the Top 10 at Syrah du Monde 2022, held in the Northern Rhône Valley of France. This was on a par with Australia and just one fewer than France, however it was a Cape Shiraz – the 2019 vintage of Glen Carlou Syrah of Paarl – that the judges ranked No. 1. Pity that
Read moreTHE PRICE of over R1000 a bottle puts Bouchard Finlayson’s flagship Pinot Noir from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley into the realm of South Africa’s luxury wines, although for less than half that you can get the same vintage of their Galpin Peak. In fact it wasn’t that long ago that the “cameo selection” Tête de Cuvée also carried the name Galpin
Read moreTHE R43 244 fetched for a single bottle of the 1966 GS Cabernet at the Strauss & Co auction in Johannesburg on 15 May 2022 was the second-highest price ever paid for this wine – the highest being R91 040, fetched in a sale conducted by the same auction house in September 2021. The occasion this time round was the
Read moreNOW IN ITS 38th year, the International Wine Challenge (IWC) is one of the world’s most rigorous wine competitions. Every medal winner is assessed ‘blind’ on at least three separate occasions by a minimum of two panels of judges tasting together, and then again by two of the show’s co-chairs, who in 2022 comprised Tim Atkin MW, Sam Caporn MW,
Read more“CHENIN BLANC is famously versatile, and it would be wrong to say that any one style prevailed among the top performing wines,” said Winemag editor Christian Eedes in the 2022 Prescient Report, compiled after the assessment of 82 entries from 61 producers in the Cape winelands. “Chenin is South Africa’s most-planted grape, and it is amazing how well it works
Read more“THE BEST Shiraz is nothing if not peppery and many will have quite grippy tannins as a result of whole-bunch fermentation… Shiraz is for those who aren’t afraid of some flavour intensity.” So says Winemag editor Christian Eedes, who chaired the panel tasting of 99 South African wines from 82 producers submitted for the 2022 Prescient Shiraz Report. Also on
Read moreON THE FARM Dekkersvlei in Klein Drakenstein, Paarl, Mellasat is off the beaten track. At these vineyards, proprietor Stephen Richardson, cellarmaster Gizelle Coetzee and their team like to do things somewhat differently. In fact this one’s never been done before… There’s nothing else quite like it. Not the first Cap Classique sparkling wine made using Pinotage to some degree, but
Read moreWITH SOME vintages it’s recommended that for a refreshing drink you can chill this blend, described by the De Villiers family as a “fun-loving” wine. In recent years, however, the Paul Hugo Red has over-delivered relative what you might expect from the second tier in Landskroon’s portfolio. The 2020 is one of the standouts since the maiden vintage 2006. Judged
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