SPEAKING about the state of the wine industry worldwide from the International Organisation of Vine & Wine headquarters in Dijon, France, the OIV’s director general John Barker (of New Zealand) stressed the downward trend in consumption, rising prices and inflation that continues to “bite”. The key highlights in the organisation’s 2024 report (2023 data) were as follows: • A decline
Read moreCHOICES CHOICES CHOICES… Tickets for ‘Wine on the Water’ in St Francis Bay are very hard to come by and those to the Stellenbosch Street Soirees are selling out fast. Interesting that the cellars exhibiting at Cape Town Fresh are mostly from outside CTN, with various districts all over the winelands represented. The Wellington festival will have somewhat of a
Read moreTHERE ARE wine lovers who are obsessed with pecking orders, rankings, insisting on there being one that is best overall, numero uno. Others, while no less discerning, are relaxed about there being a number of top wines, levels of interest value, degrees of greatness – that when it comes to the best there can be more than one, i.e. somewhat
Read moreSOUTH AFRICA’S top wines over the past 10 years – as judged by the top panels of experts around the world. An update of the best from the Cape winelands – not just with a single bottling, but time and again. Good to very good reviews for numerous vintages, labels out of sight – assessed purely according to quality and
Read moreIT’S RIDICULOUS! A number of top winery proprietors or cellarmasters in the Cape winelands turned down the invitation to be listed in Platter’s 2024 South African Wine Guide. In this the 44th edition of the book, the printed version of which finally went on sale more than a month after the top ratings therein were divulged online, you can read
Read moreTHE VERY BEST wines of South Africa at under 150 rand a bottle as reviewed by the top panels of experts locally and internationally in 2023. There is even a platinum award winner and a trophy laureate among these recommendations, and those highlighted in RED are either included in the 2023 SA Wine Classification, such are their good track records
Read moreWHAT WERE the odds! Okay, so the 2019 wasn’t quite the maiden vintage of Beyerskloof’s Eerste Ry Cab – the 2018 and 2019 were released together. Nevertheless, like a front row forward earning his Springbok blazer, the achievement of being the most highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2024 edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide ahead of Cabs that
Read moreIF YOU DEFINE the Simonsberg Wine Route in Stellenbosch as including those cellars on either side of the R44 between the boundary with Paarl to the north and Stellenbosch suburbia to the south, before you turn east to the Helshoogte Pass in the direction of Franschhoek, then there are only a few places of note if you fancy a table
Read moreTHE TOP sparklers from South Africa are applauded around the world, not just locally. Some of them are now commanding prices in line with Champagne, although most still present better value for money. These are the country’s bottle-fermented bubblies most highly rated by the top panels internationally in 2023 to date, and highlighted in red are those included in the SA
Read moreFOR A WHILE longer at least, most of South Africa’s leading blended whites remain combinations of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, but the number of outstanding Chenin-led blends seems to be on the increase. These are the country’s white combos that were most pleasing to the top panels internationally in 2023 to date, and highlighted in red are those that qualify
Read moreWHEN IT COMES TO South African Cab, there’s no question as to which part of the country’s winelands dominates the category. Not that Stellenbosch has it all their own way… See below for what has been most highly rated by the panels of experts internationally during 2023 to date. Highlighted in red are those Cabernets that qualified for the SA
Read moreOH FOR A BOTTLE or a case of each! The panels of experts have spoken… See below for the honours roll when it comes to the South African Chardonnays most highly rated internationally during 2023 to date. Highlighted in red are those that qualified for the SA Wine Classification showcasing good track records over the past 10 years. Almenkerk
Read moreHOW MUCH longer will it take for the concept of a ‘Cape Blend’ to gain traction, one wonders. Some are really good, yet more than a decade after South Africa’s inaugural Perold competition for Pinotage-led combos there were only 30 entries in the 2023 edition – less than the number entered back in 2011 – and just 17 with track
Read moreMANY STOPPED paying attention to the Michelangelo Awards when it was pointed out that, like the South African Young Wine Show, the entries include tank- and barrel-samples, i.e. wines that are not market-ready when they are judged and which could change significantly by the time they go on sale. It’s possible that these competition results and bottle stickers might sometimes
Read moreBOTTLES of the mysterious and rare George Spies Cabernet (Durbanville grapes, Paarl cellar) are regularly made available via the South African auction house Strauss & Co, with 750ml of the 1968 vintage sold during the Bordeaux Theme sale on 17 September 2023 going for over R23K – the highest price paid for a local wine on the day. That said, the
Read moreSHINING in a line-up of 157 sparklers on the tasting bench at the 2023 Amorim Cap Classique Challenge, the 2017 vintage of KWV’s Laborie Blanc de Blancs was judged the best dry bottle-fermented wine made exclusively from Chardonnay and the best wine overall. This on top of the Paarl bubbly having been chosen as Best Cap Classique at the Trophy
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 2023 South African Wine Industry Statistics (for the year 2022) include few surprises, given the state of the country’s economy, the weak rand and various political factors. Still, it never ceases to amaze on being reminded of how much more SA wine is exported in bulk / on the cheap (over 60%) compared to bottled brands… and how France,
Read moreJUDGES 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
Read moreALMOST 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
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