KWV Abraham Perold Tributum 2011
Results of the third annual Perold Absa Cape Blend Competition were announced recently and KWV’s ultra-premium Abraham Perold Tributum 2011 (R600 a bottle) was among the five winners, repeating the...
View ArticleBoekenhoutskloof Semillon 2007
Much ado about old vines in recent times but the Semillon from Boekenhoutskloof has long featured such grapes – the oldest parcel planted “around 1900” and another block in 1942 on the Franschhoek...
View ArticleDelaire Graff Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2011
Delaire Graff winemaker Morné Vrey is feeling pretty chuffed at the moment after his Chardonnay 2012 and Port-style Cape Vintage 2011 won double gold medals at this year’s Veritas Awards. I tasted the...
View ArticleCatherine Marshall Nine Barrels Reserve Pinot Noir 2011
Catherine Marshall recently turned 50 and to mark the milestone birthday a trip that took in Scotland to find out more about her ancestry, to Burgundy to gather information about her favourite variety...
View ArticleBouchard Finlayson Tête de Cuvée Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2010
Wines which are modest on their own tend to look even plainer when paired with gourmet food but by the same token wines made with serious intent sometimes only truly reveal themselves when drunk with a...
View ArticleBoschkloof Syrah 2010 vs. 2011
The Syrah 2010 from Boschkloof has picked up some serious bling recently and so I wanted to take a view on just how good it is. “Try it next to the 2011 as there’s a slight change in style,” said...
View ArticleEarthbound Organic Chenin Blanc 2013
Cape Legends, the fine wine division of producer-wholesaler Distell, recently relaunched its Tukulu range of wines produced on Papkuilsfontein in Darling as Earthbound with Fairtrade certification –...
View ArticleBoekenhoutskloof Semillon 2008
When to catch the Semillon from Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek at its best? It tends to be sullen on release but then transforms into something very good some five years on from vintage. A recent...
View ArticleSequillo White 2012
Different labels every year for the white and the red from Swartland operation Sequillo on the basis that the wine changes every year. The label for the White 2012 depicting protesting labourers in the...
View ArticleKWV The Mentors Pinotage 2011
The Mentors Pinotage 2011 from KWV (R195 a bottle) won the trophy for best “major red varietal” at the recent Six Nations Wine Challenge as well as double gold at this year’s Veritas Awards. Two major...
View ArticleIs wine art?
Is wine art? The global wine industry is divided into two broad sectors, roughly 85% of production amounting to “commodity wine” and the remaining 15% “fine wine” so let’s accept that the vast majority...
View ArticleTim James: Does wine feature in the perfect mustard?
I can’t be alone in never having (till recently, that is) wondered about the etymological and historical connection between “mustard” and “must”: on the one hand the condiment that comes in a variety...
View ArticleOldenburg Bush Vine Grenache Noir 2014
There’s not a lot of Grenache Noir planted in South Africa – 305ha at the end of 2014 – but it’s dead fashionable and anybody who’s got it is going to be tempted to try his hand at a single-variety...
View ArticleFranz Beckenbauer Libero No 5 2015
Swartland property Lammershoek was sold to a trio of German investors in 2014 leading to the replacement of the maverick Craig Hawkins as winemaker by Schalk Opperman, previously of Holden Manz in...
View ArticleThe Fledge & Co. Experimental Barrel Sauvignon Blanc 2015
Three wines from Leon Coetzee-Margaux Nel initiative The Fledge & Co going by the collective name of Jikken bareru (Japanese for “Experimental barrel”) and billed as “a little off-centre and a way...
View ArticleClay amphorae: The next big thing
How ubiquitous are clay amphorae as fermentation and maturation vessels set to become? On a cellar tour at Bodegas Castelo de Medina during my recent visit to Rueda, Spain, I noted half a dozen of them...
View ArticleDoran Vineyards Shiraz 2013
Doran Vineyards, the Voor Paardeberg owned by Irishman Edwin Doran with André Badenhorst, father of Adi, consulting is tracking in the right direction – a Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2013 and a...
View ArticleRichard Kershaw Elgin Syrah 2013
There’s a song by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age called “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” and the same might equally apply to the Elgin Syrah 2013 from Richard Kershaw Wines. From five...
View ArticleCE’s top 20 SA wineries 2016
Wine writer Tim James recently conducted a poll to establish a top 20 list of wine producers in South Africa as he has done on an occasional basis since 2001. 27 local and international wine...
View ArticleJames Pietersen: SA vs Rest of World Chardonnay tasting
Last year saw the “Great Syrah Challenge” take place at Lismore Estate Vineyards in Greyton, an exercise which saw some of South Africa’s top examples of Syrah pitched against top international wines,...
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