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
“A fun, engaging and educational way to learn…” That’s how David Clarke of Ex Animo describes his wine school – a new extension to his boutique-wine business in Woodstock, Cape Town – that will kick off in July with a course about ‘The Basics of South African Wine’. Entertaining, no official acreditation, no exams, four midweek evening sessions. “By the
STELLENBOSCH Vineyards on the Lynedoch side of town are one of the very few producers of wine made from Therona grapes, grown only in South Africa. The variety was largely thanks to the late Prof Christiaan Orffer of Stellenbosch University, who in the 1950s crossed Crouchen Blanc with Chenin Blanc – the objective being to raise the standard of Chenin
THE HIGH Road cellar in Stellenbosch, the Overhex winery in Worcester and the Zevenwacht estate in Kuils River. THE standout participants at South Africa’s 2023 Trophy Wine Show, convened by veteran wine critic Michael Fridjhon and sponsored by Investec Private Banking. The High Road Director’s Reserve 2019 and Overhex’s 2022 Survivor Cellar Master Series Chardonnay (made using grapes from the
IONA Chardonnay 2021 of the Elgin Highlands and the 2020 Reserve Cab from Le Riche in the Helderberg vineyards of Stellenbosch were the panels’ favourite South African wines at the 2023 Decanter Awards in London. A record-breaking 18 250 entries were received from 57 countries, assessed by 236 judges including 53 Masters of Wine and 16 Master Sommeliers. After weeks of
PUFFERY aside, behind the smoke and mirrors… The National Wine Challenge attracts entries from some of South Africa’s top wine producers, the judges and tasting director are respected professionals, plus there are often several good-value discoveries or confirmations as well as something or other that prompts you to ponder… Best Value? At just R95pb, a little over half the price
AS THE 2023 Chenin Safari was winding down, with the final leg of the six-week challenge just around the bend, who would be strutting their stuff at the festival in Franschhoek come Saturday 10 June, one wondered. Some of South Africa’s top Chenin producers put their hands up, including a couple whose wines have such good track records as to
ASSOCIATED with the Catalonia region surrounding the city of Barcelona in northeastern Spain as well as the Languedoc in southern France, the black grape variety Lledoner Pelut (aka Garnacha) is a mutation of Grenache Noir. Planted in South Africa for the first time at Kloovenburg outside the Swartland town of Riebeek Kasteel, it was used to make wine for the
CABERNET FRANC is top of mind for many wine lovers, particularly at Carnival time in the Cape winelands. No longer are South Africa’s leading examples confined to Stellenbosch. See below for the current champions, and for the complete picture when it comes to the panels’ favourites, click on the links. TOP RATINGS – 12 MONTHS TO DATE Anthology Cabernet
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
JUDGES at the 2023 International Wine Challenge in London were impressed by South African entries in a variety of classes, but the Chardonnay especially. Six of the 15 gold medals that went the way of Cape wine producers were for Chardonnay, with the 2021 vintage of Paul Cluver’s Seven Flags given 97 on the scorecard… Days after the names of
SHIRAZ 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
SOME WINES are pretty much ‘one of a kind’, almost incomparable. Some of them from the Cape winelands… Nero is the first and only South African wine to be made from the red/black grape Nero d’ Avola, an Italian variety named after the town of Avola in Sicily, grown among the foothills of volcanoes and now also on Bosman Family
SOME WINES are pretty much ‘one of a kind’, almost incomparable. Some of them from the Cape winelands… In South Africa, Palomino grapes are/were used mainly for the production of Sherry and Sherry-styled wines. “Very few of these vineyards remain,” reflects Adi Badenhorst of the family wine business AA Badenhorst on the farm Kalmoesfontein among the Paardeberg foothills outside Malmesbury.
WHO 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
WITH SO MUCH hype around Sauvignon Blanc during the first quarter of 2023 and extending into May with many South African wine producers engaged in Sauvignon Blanc Day/Weekend celebrations, what better time to reflect on the top expressions from the Cape. Over 60 SA Sauvignons have been very highly rated by wine panels internationally during the past 12 months, and
ALMOST EVERYBODY who’s anybody in the vineyards of Constantia was on the billboard of exhibitors expected to be serving their Sauvignon to wine lovers at Workshop 47 in Rosebank JHB in the first of two evening events this May. The notable no-show being Constantia Uitsig, an estate that’s not a member of the local wine route although one of THE
ONE OF THE smallest wine stores on the peninsula south of Cape Town – it’s hard to believe that there’s room for over 300 different bottles in this boutique. Nestled among some milkwood trees adorned with fairy lights, Furny’s on Beach Road in Chapman’s Peak Village / Noordhoek is also one of South Africa’s good Wine Bars. Quite unlike any
