CONCOURS MONDIAL is based in Brussels, Belgium, however the mammoth competition is staged in various locations with the different types of wine judged at different times of the year. In May 2023, over 300 industry experts from around the world converged on the coastal town of Porec in western Croatia to assess over 7500 red and white wines from nearly
Read moreSHIRAZ from South Africa’s Hartenberg, Kleine Zalze and Cederberg cellars were among the top gold medallists at the international Syrah du Monde 2023. Contested by 20 countries, the competition takes place in Ampuis, a town in the Rhône region of France, where 80 of the 241 wines assessed during the panel tastings earned gold (34) and silver (46) medals. Australian
Read moreWHO KNOWS what happened! With just days to go before the first Pinotage Festival of 2023 came news that the Stellenbosch event scheduled for 13 May had been cancelled. No doubt many wine lovers were looking forward to seeing who would be strutting their stuff and, for just R150pp, getting to compare the different styles. One wonders how many of
Read moreSOUTH AFRICA’S wine bars of note! Are there any others that make the cut? Where else across the length and breadth of South Africa… other than at the tasting rooms on the farms themselves… where else is wine the main focus of attention when it comes to what’s in your glass? Places that are unique in their raison d’être, where
Read moreAMAZINGLY, at the time of writing, it was still not yet sold out. At under R100, the most keenly-priced of the 28 top-scoring Chenin Blancs and Chenin-driven blends in a panel-tasting of 223 South African bottlings reviewed for the international Decanter Magazine. This is one of the bargains of the year, with an interest value that had Masters of Wine
Read moreTHE WINE is “herbaceous” and a whole lot more according to the judges who liked it so much that a trophy was awarded to the producers Villiera for best wooded Sauvignon Blanc on show – the international Concours Mondial du Sauvignon 2023, a competition based in Brussels, with the tasting panels gathered in Franschhoek (the first time outside Europe in
Read moreR44 555 was the second-highest price paid to date for a rare bottle of the GS Cabernet 1966 – the highest being R91 040 in 2021 – and/but no other South African wine came close in terms of demand for what was on offer at the Strauss & Co auction in Cape Town on 26 March. That said, a five-litre bottle of
Read moreSURPRISING to some, when the results of Concours Mondial du Sauvignon 2023 were announced no gold medals were awarded to any farm on Constantia’s Sauvignon Blanc Route, although there were plenty of golds presented to cellars in various other parts of the Cape winelands renowned for good expressions of the variety. Also somewhat surprising is that the top-scoring South African
Read moreTHERE ARE over 150 farms in Stellenbosch where you are welcome to taste and buy some wine from a cellar on the premises. Of these, around 70 also offer food, either by way of a restaurant or platters of this and that, some of which entail ordering in advance. So which are the best farms to visit in this beautiful
Read moreThe opening of The Jordan Restaurant with Marthinus Ferreira in Stellenbosch Kloof at the end of 2022 crowned a great year for the family outfit offering some of South Africa’s finest wines, fabulous food and accommodation in the great outdoors.
Read more‘EXTRAORDINARY. Profound.’ That’s what the Winemag judges thought of Koelenhof Winery’s ‘Stellenbosch 1679’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 when reviewing it for the 2022 Prescient Report. The only wine among the 64 entries from 51 SA producers scored more than 95/100, it’s one of the 24 most highly rated Cape Cabs assessed by top panels locally and internationally during the past year
Read moreJUST DAYS after the 2022 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards panel chair Abigail Donnelly announced their choice of the top-rated tables in South Africa, fellow food writer Jenny Handley went public with her panel’s preferences in the 2023 JHP Gourmet Guide. The Eat Out awards will be presented on 20 November, but we’ve been told the names of 42 restaurants
Read moreAS THE 2022 WINNER of the only competition in South Africa exclusively for Rosé wines, Groote Post is one of the country’s ‘pink’ wines of the year: • Aaldering Pinotage Rosé 2022 at R225pb ex-cellar, Devon Valley-Stellenbosch: trophy at the Michelangelo Awards (SA) • Allée Bleue Shiraz Rosé 2022 at R90pb ex-cellar, Franschhoek: top of its class at the Shiraz
Read moreIT’S A PITY that the Veritas Awards don’t do more to showcase the very best wines of South Africa. Apart from the glorious exception of the Vertex Award presented for the overall champion (the highest-scoring wine in the competition), the furthest the organisers go in presenting a guide to the greatest wines from the Cape winelands is awarding ‘double gold’
Read moreWITH MANY if not all wine competition organisers who honour overall champions at their shows, local and international, the choice has mostly to do with how many awards each producer wins, rather than which are the favourite wines. Yes, usually trophies count more than gold medals, golds count more than silvers, etc, but no, it’s not necessarily a case of
Read moreDOMAINE des Dieux’s win at the 2022 Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge was their third, having also been applauded as Best Producer in the 2018 and 2014 editions of the competition organised by South Africa’s Cap Classique Producers Association (CCPA). This time round, the 2016 vintage of Des Dieux Claudia Brut was named best wine overall, following the trophy-winning 2012
Read moreSURE THERE ARE other delightful reds and whites in their range, but it’s Shiraz that they specialise in at Saronsberg. Surely the leading wine outfit in the district of Tulbagh, their Shiraz and Shiraz-based blend ‘Full Circle’ easily clear the bar for inclusion among their respective Top 10s in the South African Wine Classification – shoo-ins for the Top Wine SA
Read moreSTILL AVAILABLE at the time of writing on 17 August 2022: REALLY GOOD REDS UNDER R100 Brink Family Pinotage 2019 R90pb from Pulpit Rock cellar, Riebeek West. Finalist in Top 10 Pinotage Competition. MAN Skaapveld Syrah 2020 R85pb ex-cellar, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch. 97/100 at Trophy Wine Show. Windmeul Shiraz 2020 R70pb ex-cellar, Paarl. Finalist in Shiraz SA Challenge. REALLY GOOD WHITE UNDER
Read moreWHAT TO MAKE of the inaugural Top 10 Merlot Competition organised by the South African Merlot Forum, an industry association whose members include over 40 wine farms. 71 entries from the various districts around the Cape winelands. Not bad, considering it’s the first edition of this challenge, but a way to go given that there are in excess of
Read moreFOLLOWING 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 more
