“WARM RED flavours, cloves and blackcurrant. A delicate palate with juicy tannins. Pairs well with Italian dishes, especially tomato-based ones, grilled chicken and Charcuterie, e.g. pâtés, terrines and salamis.” That’s how the Du Toit family describe their 2021 Kloovenburg Merlot, the highest scoring wine in the SA Merlot industry association’s 2024 Taransaud Top 10 competition. Single vineyard (22-year-old vines), WO
Read moreRATHER IMPRESSIVE! At the sale of 10-year-old wines by the South African auction house Strauss & Co, somebody paid over R4000 for a bottle of dessert wine from Andrea and Chris Mullineux’s Roundhouse farm outside Malmesbury in the Swartland. The bottle of ‘Essence’ is just 250ml in size, which would put the cost of a standard 750ml equivalent at over
Read moreA SOUTH AFRICAN wine producer got in touch to voice his discontent regarding the critics, the show judges, locally and internationally… How is it possible that Merlot makes such a high percentage of the red wine bought in this country yet there are not many brands that qualify for the SA Wine Classification. The producer preferred not to be
Read moreAT STRAUSS & Co’s 27 September 2021 fine wine auction of 10-year-olds, the Sadie Family of the Swartland, Klein Constantia as well as the Stellenbosch cellars of Kanonkop, Vilafonté and Glenelly stood out as those fetching more than R2000 a bottle. Bidding for the red blend Keet First Verse and the Reserve Cab from Le Riche stopped just short of
Read moreTHE LAST Strauss & Co Fine Wine Online Auction in 2020 comprised a sale of ultra rare Bordeaux, beginning with Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style red blends from the Cape and finishing with some of the best from France. Top price paid for a South African beauty was R32 830 for a single bottle of 1966 GS Cabernet – not far
Read more“MERLOT SOMETIMES gets a bad rap for being sweetish, soft and nothing more,” says Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za editor and tasting panel chair. However, “the best examples are really luscious and velvety as only Merlot at its finest is able to be… Its crucial characteristic is not its flavour but its texture, which can be described in one word – smooth.
Read moreALMOST sold out on the farm at the time of writing, the 2016 vintage of Glenelly Estate Reserve Chardonnay has proved very popular among aficionados around the world: gold medals at the Trophy Wine Show in South Africa, the Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) as well as at the Six Nations Wine Challenge in Australia. Based on the south-western foothills
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