COULDN’T help it! At first glance, what first ‘jumped out’ of Winemag’s 2019 Cape Bordeaux Red Blend Report was that one of the Top 5 is from a cellar in Worcester, and selling for a lot less than most of the top-rated submissions from Stellenbosch and Somerset West! Turns out that the Leipzig Grand Master 2017 is made from grapes
Read moreHIGHLY RECOMMENDED in Platter’s South African Wine Guide, an outstanding review on Winemag, then platinum at the Decanter World Wine Awards in the UK. Tokara Director’s Reserve 2016. So consistently good over the years. One of the Top 10 white blends in the SA Wine Classification, Top Wine SA Hall of Fame, Top 20 in the SA Cellar Classification.
Read moreAFTER assessing over 16 500 entries, the 2019 Decanter World Wine Award judges selected 50 considered ‘Best in Show’. France was the most successful of the 57 wine-producing countries participating at this international competition held in London, followed by Spain, Australia, Portugal and Italy in terms of their number of show-stoppers. No South Africans cracked the nod for one of
Read moreTHERE ARE SOME cellars whose reputations hinge on a single wine. Some have just one flagship. Nothing wrong with that. Actually, there are far too many producers in the Cape with far too many wines in their portfolio. More specialists please. However, you’ve gotta hand it to those wineries that consistently offer more than one of the country’s very best,
Read moreWHITES from Tokara and Raats, reds from Haut Espoir, La Bri, Rustenberg, Remhoogte and Tokara, sweets from Nederburg and Boplaas… The top-scoring South African producers in Winemag’s 10 Year Old Report 2019. To quote Christian Eedes, who chaired the three-man panel that included Roland Peens and James Pietersen of Cape Town merchant Wine Cellar: “The 2009 vintage is generally considered
Read moreTHE 2017 vintages of D’Aria’s Songbird and De Grendel’s Koetshuis are particularly impressive wines in the 2018 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10, with both already multiple award winners before the latest rounds of applause: the Songbird also won at South Africa’s National Wine Challenge and earned silverware at the International Wine Challenge (UK); the Koetshuis also won gold at the Trophy
Read moreOF THE TOP 50 cellars in South Africa with super-premium, luxury red wines presented as their numero uno at thousands of rand per bottle, there’s the Rijk’s 888 Gold Pinotage at R1100, Mvemve Raats De Compostella blend at R1150, the Hanneli R blend from La Motte at R1200, Vergelegen V Cabernet Sauvignon at R1395, The Garland Cabernet Sauvignon from Simonsig at
Read moreCLEARLY the biggest winners at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2018 are Warwick, Leeuwenkuil and Spier: Warwick the Most Successful Producer with trophies for their 2015 Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend, Professor Black 2017; Leeuwenkuil for their 2015 Heritage Syrah, judged best red overall; and Spier for their 21 Gables Chenin 2016, the top-scoring white wine overall. These
Read moreTHE 2017 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show celebrates the achievements of producers from Constantia to the Northern Cape and properties that have been part of the Cape wine landscape for centuries as well as those where winemaking only began within the past 10 years. Winner of the trophy for Most Successful Producer: Tokara of Helshoogte, on the slopes of the
Read moreTHE WINNERS of the 2016 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 competition organised by the South African wine industry’s Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group (SBIG) are from producers in Durbanville (2), Elgin, Hermanus, Noordhoek, Rawsonvile, Somerset West and Stellenbosch (3). Producers of the runners-up are located in Bamboes Bay, Constantia (Tokai), Durbanville (2), Elgin (2) and Stellenbosch (4). Among the Top 10 stand-outs, Cape Point
Read moreWHAT TO make of Winemag.co.za’s 2016 Riscura White Hot Wine Awards? Of the 35 entries from nearly as many of the Cape wine cellars blending Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, none scored lower than 86/100 (very good) despite some being criticised as clumsy, “planky”. That 15 scored 90-plus out of 100 (excellent to outstanding) was a solid endorsement of the quality and interest value
Read moreTHE TITLE of top producer at South Africa’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show has gone to some pretty distinguished cellars over the years: De Trafford and Vergelegen were joint winners in 2002, Vergelegen won again in 2003 and 2004, Diemersfontein triumphed in 2005 before Vergelegen regained the title in 2006, and then followed Cape Point Vineyards (2007), Nederburg twice (2008 and 2009),
Read moreAT THE 2016 edition of the International Wine Challenge in London following weeks of blind tastings that involved thousands of entries from around the globe, South Africa’s top trophy winners included Tokara on the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch, Saronsberg of Tulbagh and Nederburg of Paarl for the entries judged Best SA White, Best SA Red and Best SA Sweet respectively, as well as DeMorgenzon
Read moreIN WHAT AMOUNTS to a closing-down sale running until the end of March, the prices of everything at the Winters Drift shop next to the Elgin railway station east of Grabouw were slashed by 35% following a decision of the powers that be to cull the brand and to replace the vineyards with orchards – apples and pears. Apparently the wine side
Read moreTHE SA Wine & Cellar Classifications point to the current ‘who’s who’ of the South African winelands – all of the top wines and cellars over the past 10 years, including the very best in each class. Ten years’ tasting results, the best track records, involving the TOP TASTING PANELS, local and international – a pooling of expert opinions about South
Read moreTHE RESTAURANT critics are largely in agreement… The top dining venue in South Africa for 2014 is The Test Kitchen at The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town, with Luke Dale-Roberts the chef-owner and Wayve Kolevsohn the somellier: third Restaurant of the Year accolade at the 2014 Eat Out Mercedes Benz Awards, 5 Stars at the 2014 Rossouw’s Diners Club Awards, one
Read moreCAPE POINT, Chamonix, Delaire Graff, DeMorgenzon, Steenberg, Tokara and Vergelegen top the list of contenders for South Africa’s champion white blend producer for 2013… The following wines achieved outstanding reviews from the judges at blind-tastings around the world during the past 12 months: TOP SOUTH AFRICAN WHITE BLEND RATINGS IN 2013 AA Badenhorst 2011 – 4½ Stars in Platter’s Guide
Read moreAPPLAUDED as the top-performing cellars at the 2013 Veritas Awards according to the type and number of medals won were: KWV, Nederburg, Boplaas, De Grendel and Flagstone. Also singled out for special mention were: Delaire Graff, Eagles’ Nest, Graham Beck, Kanonkop, Rustenberg, Simonsig, Spier, Tokara and Windmeul. Among the newcomers of note? Rivendell near Bot River (good Sauvignon Blanc) and Kleinhoekkloof near Ashton (standout Merlot). For the
Read morePINOTAGE was the most successful variety for South Africa at the 2013 Six Nations Wine Challenge in Sydney, Australia, with three double gold medals presented for Pinotage wines made in various parts of the Cape. Specifically, the Mentors Pinotage 2011 from KWV of Paarl won first prize in the Major Red Variety Class, with double golds also going to the
Read moreWHITE BLENDS to rival the best in the world, the experts’ choice, top South African wines on the basis of authoritative reviews around the globe in 2012 – with Cape Point, Miles Mossop, Tokara and Vergelegen among the premier league regulars, plus some new names on the radar: AA Badenhorst 2010 – 5 Stars in Platter’s Guide Allée Bleue Isabeau 2011 – Top 100 SA
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