AT THE TIME of writing, the bone-dry Fino-style sherry from the farm Klein Amoskuil in the Malmesbury ward of the Swartland district was the only wine of it’s kind on the market. There have been other examples of South African sherries involving the solera process made famous by the Spanish and involving tiers of barrels containing different vintages, but these
Read moreSHENK or SKENK… However you choose to pronounce it, the Schenkfontein cellar in Eendekuil – 30km outside Piketberg off the N7, about a two-hour drive from Cape Town – is not familiar to many wine lovers outside the Swartland. The first certified bottlings from the farm of Hennie Hanekom and his family came onto the market in 2014, but it
Read more‘RAAR’ translates as ‘rare’ or ‘scarce’ and, as such, is regarded by the Riebeek Valley Wine Company as a fitting name for their range of small-volume, hand-crafted reds and whites from the boutique cellar at the winery showcasing the Swartland terroir. The Shiraz originates in a block of vines planted on iron-rich soil of the Knolfontein farm in Riebeek-West, and
Read moreTHE Sadie Family of the Paardeberg outside Malmesbury in the Swartland dominated proceedings in terms of the highest prices paid for South African wines at the first Strauss & Co wine auction of 2024, a Rhône Theme sale conducted online. Sadie’s Columella red blend was in particularly high demand, with 96 bottles going for R4213pb on average including commissions. The
Read moreTHERE are SIX producers in various parts of the Cape winelands who are most applauded in the 2024 edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide. Congratulations to The Sadie Family outside Malmesbury, Platter’s Winery of the Year, to Bosman Family Vineyards of Wellington and the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde outside Hermanus, recipient of The Editor’s Award, as well as to those producers
Read moreNOVEMBER 2023 1 NOVEMBER Caroline’s White Wine Review | Cape Town 1 NOVEMBER Veritas Tasting | Johannesburg 4 NOVEMBER Cap Classique Affair | Stellenbosch 4 & 5 NOVEMBER Pick n Pay Wine & Food Festival | Johannesburg 4 NOVEMBER Swartland Seaside Party | Saldanha 8 NOVEMBER Iconic Sauvignon Blancs | Cape Town 9 NOVEMBER Botriver Vineyards Roadshow | Johannesburg 9 NOVEMBER Veritas Tasting |
Read moreWHAT A LINE-UP of top SA wine events to look forward to in October ’23! In Johannesburg: WineX and Veritas. And in the Cape: the Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Celebration, Veritas Cape Town, Swartland Sosiaal in Piketberg and the CWG Auction, Somerset West. Then, come November: Caroline’s White Wine Review in Cape Town; the Botriver Vineyards Roadshow and Pick n
Read moreHIGHLIGHTS of the Chenin & Pinotage online sale by South African auction house Strauss & Co on 11 September ’23 – wines that fetched over R2000 a bottle on the day: CHENIN BLANC Sadie Family’s Skurfberg 2015 R44 555 (US$2360) paid for 6×750ml: R7425/750ml Sadie Family’s ‘T Voetpad 2017 R18 760 (US$994) paid for 3×750ml: R6253/750ml Alheit Radio Lazarus 2015 R9967
Read moreTHE 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
Read moreASSOCIATED 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
Read moreSOME 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.
Read moreAMAZINGLY, at the time of writing, it was still not yet sold out. At under R100, the most keenly-priced of the 28 top-scoring Chenin Blancs and Chenin-driven blends in a panel-tasting of 223 South African bottlings reviewed for the international Decanter Magazine. This is one of the bargains of the year, with an interest value that had Masters of Wine
Read moreIN THE March 2023 issue of the British magazine Decanter, no fewer than 28 of South Africa’s Chenin Blancs (or blends comprising at least 85% Chenin) were considered outstanding, excellent wines of great complexity and character, rated between 95 and 97 on a 100-point scale. This followed a three-day panel tasting of 223 wines submitted by either the producers or
Read moreTHE SWARTLAND Survivor Pinotage had impressed for quite a while before the appointment of Pierre Wahl as cellarmaster in January 2022. So much to look forward to in due course with ‘The Pope of Pinotage’ now in charge. After four years at the Friedman family’s Môreson cellar in Franschhoek, followed by 20 years at Neville Dorrington’s Rijk’s wine estate in
Read moreSURE THERE ARE other delightful reds and whites in their range, but it’s Shiraz that they specialise in at Saronsberg. Surely the leading wine outfit in the district of Tulbagh, their Shiraz and Shiraz-based blend ‘Full Circle’ easily clear the bar for inclusion among their respective Top 10s in the South African Wine Classification – shoo-ins for the Top Wine SA
Read moreOF THE FIVE Worcester wineries that qualify for the South African Cellar Classification, one has made a success of a flagship range associated with places outside the district. The most established of Overhex proprietor Gerhard van der Wath’s Survivor wines, the Pinotage and Chenin Blanc, are made using Swartland grapes harvested over 100km away, as is the Syrah. The Survivor
Read moreANCESTRAL(E)… Oldest method of making sparkling wine, whereby the wine is bottled during the (single) fermentation process, before the completion of alcoholic fermentation. (Excerpt from Mini Wine Encyclopaedia on Top Wine SA) Less involved, a shorter route to bottling than Champagne (France), Cava (Spain) or Cap Classique (South Africa). No second fermentation, and no dosage (addition of sugar-and-wine ‘liqueur’) after
Read moreIT’S ARGUABLE THAT you can’t really call this a wine route. Many of the top cellars operate quite independently, many require you to make an appointment in advance of visiting and some are not keen on dealing directly with the general public on a daily basis. One of the exceptions is AA Badenhorst, where they also offer lunch and
Read moreWHILE DEDICATED to the conservation of the highly-endangered African wild dogs and their natural habitat, Painted Wolf Wines are so much more than the plethora of bottlings adorned with various forms of wildlife illustrations and animal names that do precious little for the reputation of the Cape’s finest reds and whites. A couple of years ago Jeremy and Emma Borg’s 2018
Read moreSTRAUSS & CO kicked off their 2021 fine wine auction calendar by way of a ‘Rhône collection’, beginning with top South African producers such as Boschkloof, De Trafford, Hartenberg and Rust en Vrede of Stellenbosch as well as David & Nadia, Mullineux, Porseleinberg and Sadie of the Swartland, followed by famous benchmarks from French producers including Alain Graillot, Michel Chapoutier,
Read more
