FOLLOWING the annual general price increases effected by many South African wine producers at the beginning of March '26, listings of the country's wines most highly rated by the top panels over the past year have been revised accordingly: click here.
For the Cape's wines highly rated by the top panels during the past six months that are still priced at under R200 a bottle, click here. Still plenty to choose from, including four wines from Durbanville Hills, three each from Groot Phesantekraal (also Durbanville) and KWV (Paarl), as well as a couple each from Tokara (Stellenbosch) and Van Loveren (Robertson), whose Chenin Blanc No. 5 and Daydream Chardonnay Pinot Noir – both Veritas double gold medallists – are among 10 highly recommended wines that remained at below R100pb.
Higher up the price spectrum, one of the most remarkable adjustments was that of the Pofadderbos Sauvignon Blanc from Strandveld Vineyards between Elim and Bredasdorp, Cape Agulhas. The wine was previously pitched at under R200pb, whereas at the time of writing, the 2024 vintage – a 97-pointer in Platter's SA Wine Guide – was selling at R410pb ex-cellar.
Not that it's on the very top shelf when it comes to SA Sauvignon Blancs with the most glowing reviews – wines including Bot River's Thorne & Daughters Snakes & Ladders at R455, Stellenbosch's Quoin Rock Nicobar at R495, Hemel-en-Aarde's Bartho Eksteen Houtskool at R525 and The Globe from Diemersdal in Durbanville at R750.
Such wines tend to be produced in tiny quantities, their prices determined in part by supply and demand. Whereas the raison d'être behind certain others is that their producers feel they've accomplished something even more special or rare, put on pedestals and positioned at more per bottle than what most wine lovers spend on a case or more…
For the SA luxury wines selling at over R2000 per bottle/750ml on release, click here – the most recent addition to their ranks being the X version of Cuvée Clive Cap Classique sparkling wine from the House of Graham Beck in Robertson at R2800pb. Top of the tree at the time of writing: Laurence Graff, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Delaire Graff in Banghoek-Stellenbosch at R7000; Telos, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Tokara off the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch at R5600; followed by the trio of Black Lion (Shiraz), Book XVII (Bordeaux-style red blend) and Patronus (Malbec) from De Toren on the Polkadraai Hills of Stellenbosch at R3995pb.