THE TOP sparklers from South Africa are applauded around the world, not just locally. Some of them are now commanding prices in line with Champagne, although most still present better value for money. These are the country’s bottle-fermented bubblies most highly rated by the top panels internationally in 2023 to date, and highlighted in red are those included in the SA
Read moreSHINING in a line-up of 157 sparklers on the tasting bench at the 2023 Amorim Cap Classique Challenge, the 2017 vintage of KWV’s Laborie Blanc de Blancs was judged the best dry bottle-fermented wine made exclusively from Chardonnay and the best wine overall. This on top of the Paarl bubbly having been chosen as Best Cap Classique at the Trophy
Read moreDOMAINE des Dieux’s win at the 2022 Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge was their third, having also been applauded as Best Producer in the 2018 and 2014 editions of the competition organised by South Africa’s Cap Classique Producers Association (CCPA). This time round, the 2016 vintage of Des Dieux Claudia Brut was named best wine overall, following the trophy-winning 2012
Read morePLETTENBERG BAY winery Newstead Wines has become the first producer outside the traditional Cape winelands to be crowned winner of the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge. Newstead Brut 2015 won a double gold medal, trophy for Best Blanc de Blancs and was the top-scoring Cap Classique overall. This was the 19th Amorim Cap Classique Challenge, sponsored by the Portuguese company celebrating
Read moreANOTHER interesting line-up of wines from that ‘heartbreak grape’. To think that there are so many Pinot Noir producers in South Africa! And kudos to Elgin-based Master of Wine Richard Kershaw, the only winemaker to place among the winners of both the inaugural Top 5 competition associated with the country’s Pinot Noir Association and that organised by Winemag.co.za which involved the
Read moreIT HAS TO BE one of the most famous quotes to do with wine: “I only drink Champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it
Read moreTOP SCORE OVERALL to a Chardonnay from a boutique producer off the beaten track. Only one double gold for Shiraz, one of the most keenly contested categories in which 149 wines were entered! The Veritas Awards are seldom without some surprises or discoveries. As one South Africa’s major wine and spirit competitions – attracting 1491 entries in 2019 – the
Read moreA GOOD YEAR it’s been for Domaine des Dieux up on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, between Hermanus and Caledon. 2018 began with inclusion among the Top 10 bubblies in the SA Wine Classification, then came a gold medal at the Sparkling Wine World Championships in the UK, and now No. 1 at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge with the 2012 vintage of
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