What I Drank Last Night

The third annual Constantia Fresh festival takes place over 24 and 25 February.  A celebration of the wines of this ward, this year’s programme include the following: 1) Syrah and Bordeaux Blend Tasting (Friday afternoon) This will illustrate how well Constantia’s red wines compares to some of the world’s finest. Tickets: R1 500 per person. [...]

Eliza Alice Eedes was born at 14h23 on Monday 30 January weighing 3.45kg. Both mum and baby are doing well. Dad has a hangover. Normal service on this blog will be resumed shortly.

The Pinotage Assocation in conjunction with main sponsor Absa has launched a new booklet promoting the variety called South Africa’s Pinotage Wine Guide 1995 – 2011. The booklet contains much background information about the variety but at its core is the Top 20 Pinotage Classification 2011. The Pinotage Association was founded in 1995 and the [...]

Chilean wine brand Casillero del Diablo is Manchester United’s wine sponsor and recently launched a new ad featuring three of the UK football team’s stars, namely Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney. These guys might be able to kick a ball but they can’t act…  

Spier’s Johan Jordaan is this year’s Diners Club Winemaker of the Year, his Creative Block 5 2009 judged best overall out of 110 entires in the featured category of Bordeaux-style red blends. Matthew van Heerden won the title Young Winemaker of the Year for his 2009 Uva Mira Chardonnay in the category of dry white [...]

Results of the third annual Nedbank Green Wine Awards convened by Getaway magazine were announced today. The competition consists of two parts, namely best wines from organically grown grapes and best environmental practices. Best Wines from Organically Grown Grapes Best White, Best Overall Reyneke  Chenin Blanc 2010 Best Red Laibach Ladybird Red 2010 Best Sweet [...]

The general consensus is that South African Chardonnay is making a  comeback. But just how good is it? I put together a line-up of 50 high-profile, current-release wines  and then subjected them to a blind tasting. The top wines were as follows: FIVE STARS Ataraxia 2009 Hamilton Russell Vineyards 2009 Oak Valley Elgin 2010 Tokara [...]

Things you need to know about the 32nd edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide: colour “Karoo sun yellow with type in Atlantic blue foil”. Over 7 000 wines from more than 900 producers tasted. 45 wines rated 5 Stars (see here). Pages: 620 – 12 more than 2011 and biggest ever. Suggested retail price: [...]

Yesterday a visit to the new Makro Montague Gardens, which opened on 26 October, replacing the 40 year old Milnerton store. I was there to visit wine buyer Carolyn Barton, who is immensely proud of her 75m of shelf facings devoted to wine. The business is owned by Massmart, a JSE listed company which as [...]

The winning wines in this year’s FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 Competition are as follows: Bergsig Woolworths [WHAT]? 2011 Woolworths price: R39.95 100% Breedekloof. Somewhat shy on the nose but the palate shows intense lime flavour and bright acidity while the palate is long and very dry. Made in a lean, racy style. Drink now [...]