What I Drank Last Night

With the prospect of a long, lazy Saturday lunch holding more appeal than watching the Springboks inevitably dispense with Italy, I decided to open the 2002 vintage of Christine, the Bordeaux-style red blend from Constantia property Buitenverwachting. This is generally a wine that I would place among the top examples in the category, age worthy [...]

Blind vs. sighted tastings. Which do I prefer? I answered this and related questions in an interview with Neil Pendock which appeared in the Travel & Food supplement of the Sunday Times, 27 June. To read the full transcript, click here.

Wine writer Neil Pendock has once again posed some provocative questions concerning the state of the South African wine criticism  in two of his recent columns (see “Are SA wines really getting better?” and “Is wine appreciation generationally dependent?”). Pendock seems to be advancing a postmodernist perspective by rejecting the notion of progress (specifically he [...]

Previously published on Winemag.co.za in December 2008 (has anything changed?): Do local wine writers have the necessary talent, work ethic, integrity and self-promotional skills to succeed? According to wine writer Neil Pendock, “SA wine writing is in disarray” and it’s hard to disagree. As he noted in his blog Pendock Uncorked earlier this week, “Fynproe, [...]