BEYERSKLOOF of Stellenbosch has been awarded the trophy for best Pinotage in the 2018 International Wine & Spirit Competition, with the judges commending the 2014 vintage of Beyerskloof Diesel for its “great concentration of flavours on the palate, silky smooth texture, and long finish with a hint of chocolate”. The Pinotage specialists were also honoured for their Cape Blend, Faith, among
Read moreWINES FROM Distell, Kanonkop and Groot Constantia were the superstars at the 2018 Nederburg Auction in Paarl, fetching the top prices in highlighting the demand for old reds and sweet wine dating back as far as 1948. Three bottles of 70-year-old Monis Port sold for R21 000, a 50-year-old Chateau Libertas red blend attracted R5000 a bottle, magnums of Kanonkop Pinotage
Read moreGROOT CONSTANTIA was declared top achiever at the 2018 Novare SA Terroir Wine Awards, with winemaker Boela Gerber’s Natural Sweet Grand Constance 2015 and port-styled Cape Ruby 2016 the most successful of eight wines whose combined scores lifted the trophy. It’s been another good year by way of reviews for this dessert wine from South Africa’s oldest producer: Best in
Read moreIT WAS a good start to the month of July 2018 for South African wine producers at Muscats du Monde in France, the Sparkling Wine World Championships and the Drinks Business Global Masters, London – including a Top 10 spot among the sweets for Orange River Cellars and confirmation of Nederburg’s stature when it comes to Cabernet Sauvignon. For more about
Read moreTHERE WERE around 600 wines judged at South Africa’s National Wine Challenge 2018 convened by Robin von Holdt’s Buybetterwine.com. The judges comprised chairman Greg Sherwood (UK Master of Wine), Ginette de Fleuriot (Cape Wine Master), sommelier Wayve Kolvesohn, with winemakers Duncan Savage, Matthew Day of Klein Constantia, Richard Kershaw (Master of Wine) and JD Pretorius of Steenberg. Sommelier Higgo Jacobs was
Read moreONLY R94 a bottle, and in such good company! You might well have expected Bon Courage to lead with their flagship Inkará Shiraz, yet it’s with the relatively humble Pepper Tree version that they have excelled at Syrah du Monde in the Rhône Valley, France – the 2016 vintage from this Robertson wine estate selected among the Top 10 gold
Read moreTHE STORY of how Pinotage came to be is well documented by the producers’ association, and there are eight names in the South African winelands associated with the establishment of the cultivar that remain classified as champions of the variety: KWV (of Paarl), DeWaal, Lanzerac, Kanonkop, Simonsig, Delheim and Spier (all of Stellenbosch), as well as Groot Constantia. Of these,
Read moreNEDERBURG Private Bin Eminence 2012 has been included among the Top 10 entries at the 2016 edition of Muscats du Monde staged in the city of Frontignan-la-Peyrade in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. The Paarl cellar’s Eminence was one of 29 gold medallists – another South African among them being the 2015 Red Muscadel from Orange River Cellars, Upington, with the 2010
Read moreAFTER three days of judging 374 wines from 23 countries, the judges at Syrah du Monde 2016 in the northern Rhône Valley of France awarded 124 medals – 35 golds, including five to South African wine producers, and 89 silvers, 11 to cellars in the Cape. And of the gold medallists, two South African wines went on to be selected among
Read more“PINOTAGE has the heart of a lion and the tongue of a woman; after drinking a certain quantity you can talk forever and fight like the devil!” – Anonymous. More memorable wine quotes here. The Top 10 Pinotage in terms of South African wines with the best track records over the past 10 years (2006 – 2015) are the following: Beyerskloof
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 morePARTICULARLY good reviews for Rustenberg and Groot Constantia on the show circuit in 2015 have revived discussions about the so-called ‘First Growths’ in the winelands of South Africa – First Growths being defined as the areas or wines from those areas regarded as among the very finest of a particular district or region, based on the concept of terroir, which has to
Read moreTALK ABOUT hitting it off with the French! The 2013 vintage of Groot Constantia Shiraz has been voted one of the Top 10 among the gold medallists at this year’s Syrah du Monde in the village of Ampuis, Northern Rhône Valley, France. SA GOLD MEDALLISTS AT SYRAH DU MONDE 2015 Cederberg CWG Auction Reserve Teen die Hoog Shiraz 2012 Groot Constantia Shiraz
Read moreTHE WINEMAKING team led by cellarmaster Boela Gerber at Groot Constantia have got off to a great start to the year, first with a haul of silverware and certificates at the South African Classic Wine Trophy competition and now with a place among the Top 10 at Chardonnay du Monde in Burgundy, France. Groot Constantia Chardonnay 2013 was the only SA wine included among
Read moreHEREWITH the 2015 Classic Wine Trophy winners, as awarded by a panel of predominantly French judges at Cape Town’s Taj Hotel who “sought to recognise, reward and promote elegance, balance, finesse, ageability and sense of place”: Bellingham The Bernard Series Basket Press Syrah 2013 – DGB is on a roll Boschkloof Epilogue Shiraz 2012 – New addition to portfolio of
Read moreUNIQUE insofar as it’s the only wine competition in South Africa where all of the judges are French, the annual Classic Wine Trophy taste-off is hosted at the Taj Hotel in Cape Town and this year there were two producers who grabbed most of the glory – Morgenster of Somerset West and Hamilton Russell Vineyards of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside
Read moreGROOT Constantia, Hamilton Russell, KWV The Mentors, Paul Cluver and Rustenberg Five Soldiers top the list of contenders for South Africa’s champion Chardonnay of the year 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 CHARDONNAY RATINGS IN 2013 Bartinney 2012 – 4½ Stars, Classic
Read moreNOTWITHSTANDING Commander Jan van Riebeeck’s modest vineyards first in the Dutch government’s gardens up the road from the castle and then in Bishopscourt and Wynberg, it was in Constantia that South Africa’s wine industry really got going… History books have it that the first wine for which Van Riebeeck claimed credit was made in the 1650s but that the country’s
Read moreA GROWING NUMBER of wine lovers today are falling for Groot Constantia’s Grand Constance – a Grande Dame reborn, you might say. The thing is, this unfortified dessert wine is coming of age (again) after some of the vintages following the (re)launch eight years or so ago were met with mixed reviews – down-to-earth cellarmaster Boela Gerber is open about how things weren’t quite
Read moreCalitzdorp might be the ‘Port Capital’ of South Africa, but it’s not the only place in the country where they know how to do it Portuguese style THE JUDGING PANEL was sound and the competition has a good track record, but the announcement of the Cape Port Producers’ Association’s 2013 Challenge results prompted as many questions as it provided answers.
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