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 moreVIURA, also known as Macabeo, is a white wine grape that originated in Spain, where it is an important variety in the regions of Rioja and Catalonia – also widely planted in the southern regions of France. Think big grape clusters, big berries, thick skin – drought resistant, well suited to dry, warm climates – and versatile, used for both
Read moreTHE FIRST Vermentino vineyards planted in South Africa were on Ayama in the Voor-Paardeberg area in the north-eastern reaches of the Paarl wine district, close to the Swartland border. Taken from the Xhosa language, ‘Ayama’ means ‘someone to lean on’. There’s a leopard in the logo as a tribute to the few such cats that still roam on Paardeberg Mountain.
Read moreTHERE IS more than one South African wine made using the Tannat variety of grapes, but they are very few and far between – and this one comes from grapes grown on an organic farm hundreds of kilometres from the heart of the winelands, a nine-hour drive from Cape Town. Prieska is in the Northern Cape, alongside the Orange River
Read moreIN 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
Read moreAVON 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
Read moreALSO 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,
Read moreTHE 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
Read moreSTELLENBOSCH 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
Read moreUNUSUAL cultivars, niche varieties, alternative grapes, call them what you may… Certain leading South African cellarmasters are making some lovely wines that orginate in vineyards somewhat different from what most people with a taste for good living know all too well. Some are difficult to pronounce, let alone find on the average winelist or bottle store shelf, however the specialist
Read moreASSESSING 77 submissions for their 2019 Alternative Varieties Report, South Africa’s Winemag panel of Christian Eedes (chair), Roland Peens and James Pietersen stopped short of declaring anything to be extraordinary or profound but were impressed, finding 40 wines to be excellent (90 to 92/100) to outstanding (93 to 95/100). Top score went to a Semillon from the Simonsberg-Paarl cellar
Read moreFOCUSING on single-variety wines of South Africa that fall outside the mainstream, Winemag.co.za’s 2018 Alternative Varieties Report includes 26 wines reviewed as excellent (90 to 92/100) and four as outstanding (93 to 95/100) – this from a line-up of 97 wines. The judges, – editor and panel chair Christian Eedes with online retailer Wine Cellar’s Roland Peens and James Pietersen – found
Read moreTHERE ARE good reasons why Cabernet and Merlot, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc have come to be the most widely planted grape varieties in many wine-producing countries around the world. But of course, there are exceptions to the rule, unusual delights ranging from national and regional specialities to niche cultivars that many wine lovers might not have
Read moreTHE FOLLOWING wines, given in alphabetical order, are among the notable newcomers from South Africa’s winelands so far this decade that notched up another good review in 2015 – no fly-by-nights, no one-hit-wonders, and not the only ones by any means, but particularly interesting for one reason or another. Alvi’s Drift Albertus Viljoen Chenin Blanc. The Worcester champions at Alvi’s Drift have got
Read moreCHARLES BACK remembers well the first plantings of Viognier on his Fairview farm in Paarl back in the 1990s. Who knew then what would work where when it came to experimenting with grape varieties not widely planted in South Africa, if at all, but new or unusual is very appealing to winemakers looking for a USP, something exciting. And wow has
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