THEY 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 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
Read moreI confess! Come lunchtime on a sunny day outdoors, you’ll often find a bottle of Kleine Zalze Chenin in our ice-bucket. Stylish fruit is what does it for me, I guess – and this isn’t their flagship I’m talking about, but the most affordable at around R30 a bottle. Sure there are finer wines, but better value-for-money? And a quaffing red
Read moreWhat rubbish it is when people spout off about how the best wine is the one in your glass, about how everybody’s taste is different and wine judges’ palates are unreliable, or about how wines can’t be properly assessed without being served with food. Enjoying wine is about more than just the alcohol strength and for sure, life is too short
Read moreNo doubt one or two wineries on the Pinotage Association’s recently-published list of the 10 best Pinotage producers would have come as a surprise to some, but for followers of the Absa Top 10 competition that has been running since 1997 it all made sense. The following cellars, given in alphabetical order, have excelled consistently over the years with quality track
Read moreIN LESS than a century South Africa’s Pinot Noir Cinsaut cross has developed to become one of the most widely planted red grape varieties in the country, responsible for drinks that range from humble quaffers to fine wines deserving of their place in the company of the world’s very best. January 2012 marked the launch of South Africa’s Pinotage Wine
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