FOLLOWING AN article about South Africa’s organic wines on Top Wine SA came an organic/biodynamic wine sale convened by local auction house Strauss & Co, merchants Wine Cellar and sommelier Higgo Jacobs. Whereas there are over 20 organic wine producers in South Africa who market themselves as such, only four – Joostenberg, Laibach, Longridge and Reyneke – were represented in
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 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
Read moreWHY SPARKLING wine made according to the Mèthode Ancestral(e) is different relative to bubbly made the ‘traditional’ way – aka Champagne, Cava and Cap Classique – is that the fermentation involves a single, continuous process. From a stainless-steel tank, the fermenting wine is bottled and sealed at the point where there is just enough grape sugar remaining to make for
Read moreANCESTRAL(E)… Oldest method of making sparkling wine, whereby the wine is bottled during the (single) fermentation process, before the completion of alcoholic fermentation. (Excerpt from Mini Wine Encyclopaedia on Top Wine SA) Less involved, a shorter route to bottling than Champagne (France), Cava (Spain) or Cap Classique (South Africa). No second fermentation, and no dosage (addition of sugar-and-wine ‘liqueur’) after
Read moreEVEN WHEN IT comes to the Top 100 Cellars on the various wine routes of South Africa, not all of them are open to the public for tastings and sales all week, all weekend, i.e. including Sundays. See below for those that are, what their Sunday trading hours are plus links to the various destinations should you wish to make
Read moreVIOGNIER. There’s a certain sexiness associated with this aromatic white grape, used to make some of the famous white wines of Condrieu in the northern Rhône, southern France, and planted elsewhere including Italy, Australia, New Zealand, California as well as South Africa. The variety is somewhat controversial, too. The origin is uncertain, with Croatia getting the credit according to some.
Read moreFROM THE FOOTHILLS of Paarl Rock Mountain to the Simonsberg, Voor Paardeberg and beyond, this is a wine route encompassing some of South Africa’s biggest cellars as well as some of its smallest. Babylonstoren, Fairview and Spice Route are among the most popular tourist destinations in this district where the boundary lines separating Paarl from Franschhoek and Stellenbosch can
Read moreTHE WORDS ‘Private Bin’ on a bottle of Nederburg no longer mean that the wine was sold exclusively on auction. However, they do still indicate that the winemakers have made a special effort, gone the extra mile – and they now also appear on the Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon, beginning with the 2017 vintage. That said, the range of
Read more70 YEARS AGO, who would have imagined what Roodeberg was to become… Dr Charles Niehaus was appointed as KWV’s chief wine scientist in 1941, during World War II, and he remained a central figure at South Africa’s leading co-operative winery until his retirement in 1971. To think that the KWV’s dry red wine portfolio back in the day comprised just
Read moreTHE STORY of Vilafonté has much to do with the brand, the positioning and marketing thereof. Front and centre though is a commitment to quality and a style that can “stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great wines of the world”. This is one of South Africa’s leading luxury wines, but not the smoke and mirrors variety. Here the degree of confidence
Read moreTOP 10 IN the 2021 Winemag Pinotage Report (SA), gold medallist at the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) and trophy laureate in the Pinotage Association’s 2021 Absa Top 10 competition. What an impressive beginning for Francois van Niekerk’s first vintage (2019) under his own label – a very limited release produced when not busy as cellarmaster at Wellington Wines
Read moreWITH MUCH more focus these days on the name of a cellar in Paarl than that of the producer or the name it trades under, the label is an artwork in itself. Warshay Investments’ KWV Cathedral Cellar Sauvignon Blanc has been a friend of discerning wine lovers for many years, ranking among the Top 20 in the South African Wine Classification.
Read more10 000 WINES from 46 countries, more than 300 judges on the panels tasting ‘blind’, labels out of sight, nine days of deliberation… Belgium’s international Concours Mondial du Bruxelles is one of the world’s largest wine competitions, and while the event was dominated by France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, South Africa came away with seven Grand Gold medals, 16 golds
Read moreWHILE DEDICATED to the conservation of the highly-endangered African wild dogs and their natural habitat, Painted Wolf Wines are so much more than the plethora of bottlings adorned with various forms of wildlife illustrations and animal names that do precious little for the reputation of the Cape’s finest reds and whites. A couple of years ago Jeremy and Emma Borg’s 2018
Read moreBOTH OF the top-scoring wines in Winemag’s 2021 Cape White Blend Report were from the Wildeberg outfit in Franschhoek. A pretty impressive showing by Cellarmaster JD Rossouw and the team, and not for the first time. Last year, the 2019 Wildeberg Red blend was selected among the winners of the Shiraz SA Challenge, while another red combo, the 2019 Underworld
Read moreCONSTANTIA Fresh dinners rather than a bash on the lawn. A Chenin Blanc picnic in Stellenbosch instead of a party on the beach in Cape Town. Then some belated tastings of 2020 Veritas award winners, the first of them to take place in Paarl. But there’s more! A different kind of sparkling wine festival in Franschhoek, food and wine affairs
Read moreTHE MENTORS wines have been marvelled at and admired ever since the launch of this premium tier by the KWV in Paarl over a decade ago. The most consistent stars in the range include Pinotage and red combos such as the Perold Cape Blend and the Bordeaux-style Orchestra, one of only 29 wines in South Africa’s Hall of Fame. Plus,
Read moreTHREE CHENINS recommended in the 2020 Uber Value SA wine guide are also to be found in the 2020 SA Wine Classification, which makes them particularly attractive! The thing is, over the past 10 years they’ve been greeted with good to very good reviews time and again, the latest top ratings and awards following a number of others for a
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