CLEARLY the biggest winners at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2018 are Warwick, Leeuwenkuil and Spier: Warwick the Most Successful Producer with trophies for their 2015 Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend, Professor Black 2017; Leeuwenkuil for their 2015 Heritage Syrah, judged best red overall; and Spier for their 21 Gables Chenin 2016, the top-scoring white wine overall. These
Read moreTHE COMPETITION is unusual insofar as the assessments are done and the medallists announced in two tranches six months apart, followed weeks later by news of various trophy winners, and a couple of months after that by an awards dinner at which the top trophies are presented. One of the biggest events of its kind as regards the thousands of
Read moreEIGHT WINES from Sauvignon Blanc, with Eight Rows in the Hall of Fame, four Sauvignons in the SA Wine Classification, three in the Top 20 and two in the Top 10. Diemersdal Estate of Durbanville is not the only leading Sauvignon producer in South Africa, but no other winery comes close as regards their success as a specialist with so many versions of
Read moreAUSTRIA, host of Concours Mondial du Sauvignon 2018, scooped the second-most number of medals at the competition behind France: 78 to 126. In third place, South Africa achieved 22 medals (11 gold and 11 silver) ahead of Italy (21) and New Zealand (16). Although when it came to the trophy laureates, New Zealand’s Clos Henri (Marlborough) was the only producer
Read moreWHEN you consider South Africa’s best Sauvignon Blanc, Durbanville has punched above its weight division for as long as most can remember. There are only a dozen or so cellars along the wine route, including the Graaffs’ De Grendel estate above the Plattekloof Road in Panorama on the other side of the Tygerberg relative to fellow members of the association.
Read more“THE SAUVIGNON Blanc Interest Group of South Africa (SBIG) fosters excellence in making and marketing South African Sauvignon Blanc locally and internationally… The annual FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 competition was started in 2007 to promote innovation and excellence in the category and reward those making wines of true distinction.” So how did things pan out in the 2017 taste-off?
Read moreAT THE 2017 edition of Concours Mondial du Sauvignon in Bordeaux, France, 861 wines from 22 countries were scored by 65 judges from 17 countries over two days, with trophies awarded for eight wines and medals for 242 – 87 gold and 155 silver. Two of South Africa’s 45 Sauvignon Blanc entries – one from Diemersdal and another from Steenberg – won
Read moreIT’S NOT that the district of Darling – including the Groenekloof ward – is no longer the source of good Sauvignon Blanc. A number of top wineries outside the area continue to source some of the fruit for some of their wines from Darling – KWV of Paarl, for example, produces a particularly fine Sauvignon from Darling grapes under The Mentors label. But
Read moreTHE PINOTAGE Association made much of Kanonkop’s and Rijk’s achievements at the 2016 Absa Top 10 awards where they both won trophies for the 11th time in the 20-year history of the event – iconic track records for sure, albeit that the Kanonkop 2010 was ‘sold out’ ex-cellar and the Rijk’s Reserve 2013 had yet to be released at the time of writing. However, two
Read moreNEDERBURG of Paarl consistently puts together really good Sauvignon Blanc for their exclusive wine auction once a year, and Graham Beck of Robertson had a really good track record with their Pheasants’ Run before they decided to focus solely on Cap Classique bubblies made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Apart from these, however, there are just four producers whose Sauvignon Blancs qualified for the Top
Read moreTHE RED BLENDS from South Africa’s winelands that were the subject of good reviews in 2015 include plenty to choose from at under R100 a bottle. At under R50 there are fun labels such as Balance (depicted by an elephant on a stool) from Worcester’s Overhex, wines with a story behind them such as Sixpence of Opstal, Rawsonville, as well less frivolous
Read moreREALLY GOOD Pinotage at under R100 a bottle is becoming increasingly scarce – particularly if you’re looking for wine with a really good track record over the past 10 years. However, of the bottlings that did bring smiles to the faces on one or more of the top tasting panels in 2015 and whose price tags have been kept to double digits,
Read moreTHE HONOUR for most trophies won by a producer at the Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition since it began 19 years back (1997) is shared by Kanonkop of Stellenbosch and Rijk’s of Tulbagh at 10 each. However during the last 10 years of the shoot-out (2006 to 2015), the judges on the Top 10 tasting panels have awarded seven to Rijk’s, six to Windmeul
Read moreTHE RESULTS of Winemag.co.za’s Riscura ‘Red Hot Wine Awards’ confirmed the good credentials of numerous Bordeaux-style blends from the Cape – including a couple priced at around a third of what the top-rated wines are going for and a helluva lot less than the winner of the competition. In the final taste-off the honours went to the Mvemve Raats de Compostella
Read moreDIEMERSDAL, Steenberg and Delaire Graff shone brightly for South Africa at the international Concours Mondial du Sauvignon 2015. At the contest, held in Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region this year, two of the SA trio won a couple of medals each, with Diemersdal of Durbanville winning three. In all, gold medals were presented for four Sauvignon Blancs from the Cape – two of them from
Read moreCOULD wine lovers take a big liking to South African red wines made solely from Grenache? It’s early days still, but notable how many leading cellars in the Cape have warmed to this variety, widely planted in Spain and France, typically used in Rhône-style, Shiraz-led blends but also making for very respectable single-varietal wines. That SA Grenache on its own
Read moreRELATIVE to many other top South African wine estates, Diemersdal is humble in appearance – nothing very fancy, a rustic farm that in some ways has been slow to change with the times, and all the more charming for it. Within the ward of Durbanville, the farm stands apart to the north of the town – quite separate from most of
Read moreTHERE ARE FEW surprises among the winners of the Pinotage Association’s 2014 Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition… Delheim Vera Cruz is better known for its prowess in the Shiraz category – the Vera Cruz Pinotage is a maiden vintage. And it’s suspected that certain Pinotage heavyweights including Kanonkop didn’t enter on this occasion – there is also no Kaapzicht Steytler,
Read moreCAPE POINT, Cederberg, Diemersdal, Graham Beck, Kleine Zalze, KWV, Quoin Rock, Reyneke and Shannon top the list of contenders for South Africa’s champion Sauvignon Blanc producer for 2013… The following wines achieved outstanding reviews from the judges at blind-tastings around the world during the past 12 months: TOP SOUTH AFRICAN SAUVIGNON BLANC RATINGS IN 2013 Alexanderfontein Chip off The Old
Read moreNOTABLE ABSENTEES among the laureates in the latest shoot-out organised by South Africa’s Pinotage Association include Beyerskloof, DeWaal, Spier and Stellenzicht… Familiar faces at the podium this year included Anura, Fairview, Kanonkop, KWV, L’Avenir, Lyngrove, Môreson, Rijk’s, Simonsig and Windmeul… And the surprise newcomer among the Top 10 was Black Elephant Vintners, a Franschhoek producer making its debut with a wine called
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