ENTRIES in the Perold Cape Blend Competition are required to have Pinotage as a leading component – a minimum of 30% but no more than 70%. According to Pinotage Association chairman Beyers Truter: “When the Absa Perold Cape Blend competition was initiated in 2011, the aim was to promote a category that would yield bold, vibrant wines truly representative of South
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 moreSMALL POINT BUT… Why have a menu at the home of such South African marvels as Beyerskloof Pinotage, blends including the country’s ‘indigenous’ variety, and the Pinotage burger, that lists some items in French, Italian, etc? However, moving right along… The Red Leaf Bistro is one of the hotspots on the Stellenbosch wine route, particularly since the restaurant was revamped and the range of
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 moreFOR YEARS the reputation of Fleur du Cap as a collection of top quality, interesting wines from Distell’s Bergkelder in Stellenbosch was built mainly on the strength of whites in the ‘Unfiltered’ range – such was the consistency that Fleur du Cap Unfiltered soon ranked among South Africa’s top-ranked classified Chardonnays, Semillons, Viogniers and white blends. And it wasn’t long before the
Read moreYOU COULD be forgiven for wondering whether Perold Tributum’s success at the Pinotage Association’s Perold Absa Cape Blend competition was stage-managed, engineered… However, the KWV flagship has also got the nod at Veritas, the International Wine & Spirit Competition and International Wine Challenge, the Decanter World Wine Awards, etc, etc. So nothing untoward! The producers’ association holds the view that a Cape Blend should include
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 moreNO SIMONSIG, no Beyerskloof, no Diemersfontein, no Kaapzicht and/but… There are some familiar names plus a bunch of respectable newcomers among the 20 finalists in the 2015 Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition of which the winners are due to be announced on Friday, August 28. The biggest head-turner among the Top 20 chosen from over 150 entries in the Pinotage (Producers) Association’s taste-off this
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 moreTHE LATEST round of awards for SA white wines at the inaugural Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge again raises the issue of what South Africa hangs or should hang its hat on – in other words, what the industry’s strong suits or trump cards are. Certainly there’s a case to be made for Chenin, and if Chenin is to
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 moreCaptivating scenery, classy wine, Constantia GlenCONSTANTIA GLEN hasn’t been making wine for a decade yet, but already it’s a destination of note among the Cape’s panoramic farms just below Constantia Nek that offer a bite to eat and a growing reputation for good vino. The first wines, made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes, met with mixed reviews. Over the past four or
Read moreALL OF THE South African wines below are included in the latest Pinotage Classification, with those having the very best track records highlighted and the listing limited to wines whose accolades include very good reviews in 2013/14. Prices are for the latest releases/vintages to be rated – rands per standard 750ml bottle and ex-cellar in most instances (approximate retail prices if the
Read moreSOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications on the basis of the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years have just been released. To be eligible for Classification, a wine must have been made and bottled in South Africa and must have earned very good reviews by at least one of the
Read moreTHE OWNERS of Oak Valley Estate might have been the first to build a winery in the vicinity of Grabouw around 100 years ago, but it was Paul Cluver Snr who really got the Elgin winelands going when he planted his first vineyards in the mid-1980s and began bottling on his farm from the late 1990s. It’s been many years
Read morePRETTY GOOD, yet pretty quiet, somewhat mysterious… It was only a few months back that we heard about the new version of Pinotage from Kanonkop – just that a third Pinotage from the Krige brothers, winemaker Abrie Beeslaar and their team was on the cards, to be released under the second-tier Kadette label, but no fanfare to speak of. And
Read moreR40 A BOTTLE for one of the Cape’s top red blends! What a come-on line for the guys at Viljoensdrift alongside the Breede River in Robertson following the inclusion of their River Grandeur Cape Blend 2011 among the Top 5 in the Pinotage Association’s 2013 Perold Absa Cape Blend Competition. The Viljoens’ farm is renowned for the wine-tasting-cum-picnic experience aboard their
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
Read moreTULBAGH is one of those places on the way to nowhere really, a destination in itself, tucked away between the Obiqua, Winterhoek and Witzenberg mountains. Named after a former Dutch governor of the Cape, Rijk Tulbagh, the town is accessed via Malmesbury or Piketberg off the N7 and via Wellington or Worcester off the N1. It includes some lovely countryside, is popular
Read moreGREAT BUYS for the festive season… Pinotage that has been highly recommended this year by one or more of the expert tasting panels around the world AND that costs less than R80 a bottle – with prices given ex-cellar, or approximate retail if the public can’t buy directly from the producer: ALLEE BLEUE Starlette 2011 – R42 BEYERSKLOOF 2011 – R55 BOLAND CELLAR Reserve No
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