THE RESULTS of the 2023 Shiraz SA Challenge provided plenty of talking points. For example: Flagstone of the Strand/Somerset West grabbed two awards, one for a ‘Dark Horse’ with one of the best track records in the category and the other for a ‘Velvet’ blend that costs what you might think with a name like that. The achievement by De
THEY CAN’T say with absolute certainty whether it was made in 1791 or 1890, but “due to the colour and aromas” it’s believed to be the former. The unlabelled, handblown bottle is small, half a standard 750ml measure of ‘Constantia Sweet’, acquired by Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (now Heineken Beverages) at a London auction in 1974. Recently resealed by Amorim Cork
MANY WINE lovers would be amazed on being told that neither Chardonnay nor Cabernet rank among the Top 3 most widely planted grape vines in France. And outside Spain and Portugal, who would have thought that Tempranillo is as big as it is in the total scheme of things. In the Cape winelands, the most-planted variety of grape vine is
HAVING achieved 95/100 for the current release of their flagship red blend at the Decanter World Wine Awards in London, Constantia Glen went one better with a score of 96 at the last of the biggest competitions of its kind in 2023, the International Wine & Spirit Competition. Constantia Glen Five 2020 was one of the three top-scoring South African
♥ The top SA wine events scheduled to take place this month, August 2023. Just click on the links for more info, directions, tickets, etc. WINE TASTINGS OF NOTE 1 – 6 AUGUST Wine Town | Stellenbosch 4 & 5 AUGUST Stellenbosch Wine Festival 8 AUGUST Tasting from the Swartland | CTN 12 AUGUST Cap Classique First Star Course | Johannesburg 12 AUGUST
IN AUSTRIA, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, it is one of the most widely planted grape varieties. It’s also to be found in the winelands of Hungary and New Zealand, as well as on the winelists of certain top restaurants in the UK and USA. In South Africa, however, Grüner Veltliner was pretty much unheard of until Diemersdal of Durbanville
THE ACHIEVEMENT of Iona with the 2021 Chardonnay in their Elgin Highlands range at the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) was impressive, to say the least. Of all the Chardonnays entered in the competition, it was one of only 16 rated 97+ on the judges’ 100-point scale and one of only three honoured among the ‘Best in Show’ (Top
AVON is the name of Isak Visagie’s farm on the slopes of the Olifantsberg in the Breedekloof Valley where uniWines of Rawsonville sources the Clairette Blanche grapes for one of their old vine projects, an experimental wine in the DaschBosch range. The farm had been planted mainly to Palomino (Frans druif) and Muscat d’Alexandrie (Hanepoot). It was in 1977 that
DESCRIBED AT the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards in the UK as “graceful and accomplished”, the Le Riche Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 was the most highly rated red from South Africa and, from over 18 000 entries internationally, one of 50 wines celebrated as ‘Best in Show’. What the panel of judges experienced was: “Dark, black-red in the glass, with
ALSO KNOWN as Alvarinho in Spain and Portugal where it is used to make white wines including Vinho Verde, the Albariño grape was used for the first time in South Africa at Newton Johnson Vineyards in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside Hermanus. Maiden vintage: 2015. Though Pinot Noir specialists, the family’s expertise has long extended to Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc,
THE FIRST outright winner of South Africa’s Top 10 Merlot Competition, Rainbow’s End in Banghoek on the Pniel side of Stellenbosch en route to Franschhoek, is in a beautiful corner of the Cape winelands, with the tasting room and lookout deck positioned on a hill to take full advantage of the view. For some time now, the estate up a
THERE ARE some wines of South Africa that are positioned as not quite top draw but very good, worthy of premium pricing. Better than ‘second labels’ such as Kadette in the case of Kanonkop, Jordan’s Chameleon, DMZ from DeMorgenzon, Glenelly’s Glass Collection, Kloof from Mullineux, Secateurs from AA Badenhorst, First Sighting from Strandveld… No, there are wines which we’re told
THREE of the Top 10 in Winemag’s 2023 Prescient Pinotage Report from the same cellar, including one of the panel’s three absolute favourites and the best priced of the Top 10… You won’t see that again anytime soon! Congrat’s to the team at Windmeul Cellar in Paarl – especially for what they achieved with the 2021 vintage of their ‘standard’
IT’S AMAZING that there are any highly rated wines available at under R100 a bottle these days, and yet… MOST HIGHLY RATED < R100 Bon Courage Unwooded Chardonnay 2022 Gold Medal at Trophy Wine Show (SA) R83pb ex-cellar, Robertson KWV Cathedral Cellar Sauvignon Blanc 2022 Gold Medal at Trophy Wine Show (SA) R99PB ex-cellar, Paarl Land’s End Cape South Coast
THE TOP South African wine events taking place from July through August 2023 begin with a focus on Portuguese varieties and styles in Stellenbosch and wind up to the Cape Winemakers Guild Showcase tastings at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town and the Nedbank Atrium in Johannesburg. Event highlights in July include Caroline’s Red Wine Review at the V&A
AS RECENTLY as 2011, Lemberg Wine Estate didn’t have any Hárslevelü vines – the pioneering efforts by former proprietor Janey Muller in the 1980s having been pulled out by subsequent owner Klaus Schindler, who in turn sold the property in 2007 to current custodians Henk du Bruyn and Suzette van Rensburg, both determined to resurrect the “legacy”. Today there is
THE 2023 South African Wine Industry Statistics (for the year 2022) include few surprises, given the state of the country’s economy, the weak rand and various political factors. Still, it never ceases to amaze on being reminded of how much more SA wine is exported in bulk / on the cheap (over 60%) compared to bottled brands… and how France,
THE SECOND Top 10 competition organised by South Africa’s Merlot Forum attracted 69 entries from most of the Cape’s wine regions. Notable relative to the inaugural panel tasting was the “dynamic spread” of offerings. “This year’s entries were a tad more exciting,” reflected the convener of the judging panel, Vondeling winemaker Matthew Copeland. “Excellent examples of each style,” he said.
“IF BABOONS could talk, they’d tell you that Chardonnay is their favourite fruit,” says Meyer Joubert, cellarmaster and viticulturist at Joubert-Tradauw outside Barrydale in the Klein Karoo. The baboons (and the birds) present a challenge he could do without, but what he manages to keep from them makes for wine under his own label as well as those of producers
THE BORDEAUX grape variety Carménère is extremely scarce in South Africa – less than 10ha of vines in total, of which there is less than a couple of hectares at the Doornbosch farm outside Bonnievale in the Robertson district, home of the Smuts family and their Lozärn range of wines. The first block of their Carménère was planted less than
