What I Drank Last Night

Sauvignon Blanc from Darling, Durbanville and Elim has generated all the hype in recent times but it would be short-sighted to overlook the ward that gave us the seemingly immortal Klein Constantia 1986 as made by the late Ross Gower. Proof that Constantia can still hack it two decades on comes in the shape of [...]

When it comes to bottle-fermented sparkling wine, the conventional wisdom is that local producers are never going to struggle to achieve ripeness relative to Champagne but retaining the same freshness is going to be difficult. Yesterday a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Brut-LP as an aperitif and then Kaapse Vonkel 2005 from Stellenbosch producer Simonsig with a [...]

I remember being somewhat taken aback upon my arrival at Stellenbosch University in 1990 when the drink of choice of many of my peers was brandy and coke – mixed by empting at least half the contents of a 2 litre bottle of the soft drink and re-filling it with Klipdrift and then drunk from [...]

At last year’s Nederburg Auction, a case of six half-bottles of Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon 1961 fetched R5 500, the equivalent of R1 833 per 750ml bottle. Does old South African red deserve this sort of premium? Yesterday the chance to explore the age-worthiness of Zonnebloem Cab, the line-up including 1964, 1974, 1982, 1995, 2000 and [...]

Sijnn is the original Khoisan word for the Breede River. How precisely to pronounce it is moot, but co-owner David Trafford is happy if you say it like you would the more famous Seine that runs through Paris. It’s the name of Trafford’s vineyard situated between the hamlet of Malagas and the fishing village of [...]

The Rudera brand has had its ups and downs in recent times but finally seems to have a happy and potentially prosperous future ahead of it. It was founded by renowned winemaker Teddy Hall and wife Riana in 1999 but when they split, ownership fell to Riana and a succession of winemakers followed.  Wines under [...]

How easy is it to tell the superlative from the super-quaffer? That was the theme of a social tasting last night. The line-up was tasted blind, my tasting notes and scores as follows: DeMorgenzon Reserve Chenin Blanc 2009 – Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2011 Intense and complex. Peach, spice and some leesy notes. [...]

Not wishing to be overly dramatic, I nevertheless suspect the recent “IBMP tasting” at De Grendel will go down as a pivotal moment in how top-end reds are assessed among local critics. Here it emerged that many of those actively involved in passing judgement on wine quality are inclined to prefer wines towards the greener [...]

Lunch yesterday with Hennie Coetzee and Maggie Mostert of Batonage.com at Mexican restaurant El Burro in Green Point. Huge fans of the wines of Jean Daneel, they insisted I share their last bottle of Jean Daneel Signature Chenin Blanc 2003 with them after I recently wrote a favourable review of the 2006 vintage of this [...]

Why has Lars Maack, owner of Constantia property Buitenverwachting, removed his Riesling vineyards just when interest in what can be done with the variety locally finally seems to be reaching a meaningful level? To answer the question a bottle of his Rhine Riesling 2006 next to Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2005 from the [...]