THE STAND-OUT South African wines made from niche varieties, the best reviews of the year – including a particularly successful Viognier, which many winemakers regard as better suited for blending with other varieties, a Grenache Blanc with great interest value, and a couple of dry reds from cultivars more commonly associated with port-style fortified wines: WHITE WINES Altydgedacht Gewürztraminer
Read moreTHE STAND-OUT Merlot from South Africa, the best reviews of the year – and how particularly outstanding these are, given the difficulty in producing top quality single-varietal Merlot as opposed to using it in blends. In fact, up to 15% of a so-called single-varietal wine can comprise a variety or varieties other than that which the wine is sold as…
Read moreTHE STAND-OUT Chardonnays from South Africa, the best reviews of the year – from particularly good value wines courtesy of Durbanville Hills and Douglas Green Bellingham to beauties from De Wetshof, Hamilton Russell, Jordan, Mulderbosch, Paul Cluver, Sumaridge, Tokara, Uva Mira and others that have wowed the critics again and again: Almenkerk 2011 – gold medal at Decanter Awards, 4½ Stars in Christian Eedes
Read moreTHE STAND-OUT Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa, the best reviews of the year – from particularly good value wines including Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection, Dieu Donné and Tokara, to Cabs made at the Cederberg Private Cellar and Stark-Condé in the Jonkershoek Valley that have come under the spotlight again and again and again: Cederberg 2009 – Top 100 SA Wine Challenge selection Cederberg Five Generations
Read moreLEOPARDS and wine? Well, it’s a stronger link than between wild dogs and wine (apologies to the makers of Painted Wolf Wines who did so well in the Top 10 Pinotage Competition). In fact, while the winelands of the Cape are far away from the great game reserves in the northern and eastern reaches of South Africa, the chances of seeing
Read moreIMAGINE: a good red wine selling for R30 a bottle that comes recommended by one of the best judging panels in the country. We’re talking about the blend from a winery off the beaten track between Worcester and Villiersdorp that won silver and a score of 81 out of 100 at this year’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. Be warned
Read moreTHE SUCCESS of KWV at the 2012 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show didn’t surprise those who’ve been tracking the quality and character of The Mentors range launched by this Paarl producer a few years ago. Australian cellarmaster Richard Rowe, local winemaker Johann Fourie and their team at the winery have been turning heads with The Mentors since day one. However,
Read moreIT DOESN’T look like it used to, doesn’t taste like it used to, doesn’t cost what it used to… Actually, I wonder who’s drinking Chateau Libertas these days, what with the producer Distell itself fielding both better quality and better value wines under different brand names. Much as I was a fan in years gone by I’d now rather drink
Read moreANNOUNCED in quick succession, the results of the 2012 Decanter World Wine Awards and International Wine Challenge in London offered tips aplenty – albeit with few surprises in the gold medal stakes when it came to South Africa’s top-performing cellars. Among the attention grabbers on both stages were the 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2010 from Spier, who have done so well
Read moreTHEY SAY that there’s no such thing as bad publicity or bad PR, that all publicity is ultimately good publicity. In which case the owner of the Sugarbird Manor guesthouse in Stellenbosch’s Devon Valley won’t mind this blog all that much. After all, she didn’t seem very concerned when I spoke to her directly so this will probably only bemuse
Read moreNOW IN ITS second year, Top 100 SA Wines has a few things going for it as an authoritative competition, e.g. the sommelier, several Masters of Wine and some leading winemakers involved in managing the tasting procedures and judging processes, contributing to credible results. However, although there are a number of top cellars among the entrants there are too many
Read moreVILLIERA cellarmaster Jeff Grier and sales boss Cathy Grier-Brewer are among the best ambassadors for the Stellenbosch wine route. Cape Wine Masters of many years standing and, together with fellow director and viticulturist Simon Grier, at the helm of a winery with a reputation for good Cap Classique sparklers and several other fine wines, the siblings were as welcoming as
Read moreAfter over a year of ‘downtime’, Top Wine SA is being relaunched this month following a makeover and full maintenance service, so to speak. Now linked to this blog, it’s an online showcase of the best quality and best value South African wines that remains unique as a buyer’s guide. It’s about the who’s who among the country’s leading wine producers
Read moreLooking forward to the prospect of a wineland lunch we headed out to the little De Meye winery in the back-end of Stellenbosch where we’d heard there was a good table offering comfort food for hungry souls. We were in adventurous mood, but hadn’t factored in the roadworks along the R101 (darn stop-go system) and then arrived at ‘The Table’
Read moreWould I recommend La Belle Cafe at the Alphen Hotel in Constantia, Cape Town? Pretty much! The setting outside the bakery-cum-deli is good – we were sitting in front of old Cape Dutch buildings, under the oaks. The waiters were friendly, the wine was the right temperature and the glasses decent. But the winelist was questionable.We weren’t staying long enough
Read moreDoesn’t it make you wince when given a restaurant winelist headed ALCOHOL… Don’t you cringe when the sign above a bottle store proclaims LIQUOR… And another pet hate is when wine scribes insist on using the word BOOZE to describe one of the finer things in life. To me, you might as well then refer to Dom P, Margaux, Petrus,
Read morePurists frown on them, but the number of coffee- as well as chocolate- and other obviously sweet-flavoured red wines on the market continues to climb. I’m keeping an open mind on this front and have had some enjoyable mocha moments with wine glass in hand. However, there comes a point where what’s in the bottle just isn’t kosher…It’s one thing
Read moreAt Super Single Vineyards’ Sutherland-Karoo outpost in the Northern Cape they talk about summertime highs and lows of 32ºC and 5ºC respectively. In fact the highs can reach 40º, and come wintertime the mercury drops to between -3º (on average) and -11º (occasionally). What’s more, the lowest temperature recorded in Sutherland so far this century stands at -16º (2003) and
Read moreSo now we know the names of all the trophy winners… The Overall Winners in the 2012 Classic Wine Trophy competition include a red from Stellenbosch (using grapes from Sutherland), a white from Walker Bay (near Hermanus), a bubbly from a cellar on the Franschhoek perimeter and a sweet wine from Voor Paardeberg on the outskirts of Paarl. BEST RED
Read moreGlen Carlou of Paarl was an icon wine property in the hands of Walter and David Finlayson (now focusing on Edgebaston in Stellenbosch) and that it’s still among South Africa’s leading producers was highlighted by the French-palate judges at the 2012 Classic Wine Trophy competition. One of only three cellars to scoop more than a single gold medal at the
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