WHO COULD possibly argue with the Pinotage Association when they promote South Africa’s red wine ‘calling card’ with biltong as a ‘perfect pairing’. What’s not to like! And having been behind a number of Pinotage & Biltong Festivals in Paarl and elsewhere in the country over the years, the Association stepped things up a notch in 2019 with the
Read moreTHERE ARE STILL a number of Cape Blend sceptics and naysayers. Apparently they don’t know what they’re missing, or don’t know better! Various expressions of Pinotage are enjoyed by wine connoisseurs around the world, and many of the cognoscenti are as enthusiastic about the red blends in which the SA-born variety plays a pivotal role – a minimum of
Read moreMYSTERY NO MORE! The maiden 2016 vintage was only released in the second-half of 2019, after having already earned accolades at local and international shows a year before. The 2017, which excelled at the 2019 Absa Top 10 awards, is only expected to go on sale in mid-2020. And at the time of writing, there was still no mention of Beyerskloof
Read moreSOMETIMES what the Pinotage specialists at Beyerskloof do is performed with very little fanfare. Towards the end of 2018, word got out that the Truters had added another label to their portfolio of wines made from Pinotage, either entirely or in part. The newcomer: Beyerskloof Winemakers Reserve – 2016 being the maiden vintage. But no mention of it on
Read moreA NUMBER of South Africa’s Top Pinotage cellars are represented among the 2019 Absa Top 10 Competition finalists. There are no surprises among the Top 20, with all of the producers having excelled before with previous vintages. Odds-on favourites to be called to the podium on 14 August? Beyerskloof, Kanonkop, Wildekrans… Most notable absentees? Rijk’s, Flagstone, Diemersfontein… That the Pinotage Association
Read moreALBERTUS VILJOEN was the founder of Worcester farm Alvi’s Drift back in 1928: charismatic, athlete, Springbok rugby player of note. Bismarck was Alvi’s Great Dane: superior in stature, commanding respect, providing a friendly welcome to visitors. And the red blend named in honour of the man and his hound is among the ‘ultra premium’ offerings from Alvi’s Drift: multiple award
Read moreTHE 2019 Cape Wine Auction at Buitenverwachting in Constantia raised over R14-million, bringing the total raised at the event towards the education of needy children in the winelands of South Africa to around R88-million since the annual sale was first held in 2014. One of the highlights on offer was an item comprising 96 bottles of Pinotage from grapes grown
Read moreYOU COULD hardly script a better year for a winery, such have been the achievements surrounding the 30th anniversary of Beyerskloof. One of South Africa’s top red wine cellars, the Stellenbosch producer is unrivalled as a Pinotage specialist with four single-varietal expressions of South Africa’s most successful ‘indigenous’ wine grape cultivar, three Pinotage-led Cape Blends, one of the very few white
Read moreWHILE RENOWNED for Sauvignon Blanc, red blends and Pinotage, Cape Town’s alternative to Constantia as a wine route less than 30km away and under half-an-hour’s drive from the heart of the Mother City also has a variety of other delights to offer by the glass – and the views are quite delightful, including some classics of Table Mountain from across the
Read morePRODUCED “to exhibit the individuality of South Africa’s indigenous grape in ultimate cellar artistry” – and to honour a dog! Diesel was the name given to a beloved canine friend of South Africa’s Pinotage ambassador Beyers Truter, and it’s the name of the flagship wine from the Pinotage specialists at Beyerskloof, Stellenbosch. Diesel Pinotage has pretty much everything going for
Read moreIT’S NOT every year that they make a Steytler Pinotage at Kaapzicht: there was one in 2010, but not in 2011; one was made in 2012, but not in 2013, nor 2014; then came the 2015, but no 2016, and it will be a while before the 2017 vintage is released. This is a selection of the best they can
Read moreTHE KWV has enjoyed a rather good run in the Absa Perold Cape Blend Competition with five wins for their Abraham Perold Tributum since the first taste-off in 2011 – twice now with the 2014 vintage, having also won with it in 2016, but also with the 2013 (in 2015), the 2011 (in 2013) and the 2010 (in 2012). No other
Read moreTHE ANNOUNCEMENT of the Absa Top 10 for 2018 served to reiterate a number of truths and trends: ‘old’ vines make for good wines; the more experience you have with the variety and the vineyards, the higher the likelihood of greatness in the bottle; while the benchmarks remain steadfast, those contesting the premier league have grown in number and location;
Read moreTHE JUDGING is complete, preparations for the awards function at Cavalli Estate in Somerset West on 15 August are in full swing and wine lovers are looking forward to seeing which of their favourites among the Top 20 finalists are considered by the panel of experts to be the best of the best in the 2018 Absa Top 10. The Absa Top
Read more1953 was ‘a big year’. Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Tibet became the first people to summit Mount Everest, the highest point on the planet. 1953 saw the crowning of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. And it was the year that one of South Africa’s first Pinotage vineyards was planted with a view to production on
Read moreWINE LOVERS around the world have a soft spot for it! The Pinotage market is booming! At 24 million litres a year and counting, it’s one of the South African wine industry’s fairy-tale success stories and the good times seem unlikely to end any time soon. Of the Top 10 most-planted wine grape varieties in the country, Pinotage is the only
Read moreONE OF THE three most topical wines of the Breede River Valley during the first half of 2018 originates half in Robertson, half in Worcester… From the South African wine region that stretches southeast of Tulbagh and Ceres to Bonnievale, northwest of Swellendam, comes the sparkling wine judged best Cap Classique at the National Wine Challenge. Celine Brut NV, which
Read moreAMONG the many words that the Greek philosopher Aristotle is famous for having strung together are that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, something to be debated come the Absa Perold Cape Blend Awards honouring combinations that include a minimum of 30% and no more than 70% Pinotage. There were 53 entries in the 2017 edition
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 moreTHE 2017 ABSA Top 10 Pinotage competition culminated with the presentation of trophies to winning wine producers at Cavalli estate outside Somerset West. The event commemorated 21 years of the Pinotage Association’s competition that contributes to setting benchmarks as regards South Africa’s most successful ‘indigenous’ variety. There were 147 entries and the laureates were applauded as fine ambassadors of Wine
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