What I Drank Last Night

A selection of recently received Pinotage samples tasted sighted and scored according to the 20-point system: Spier 21 Gables Private Collection Pinotage 2009 Wine of Origin Stellenbosch – 14% abv Dark fruit, hint of fynobos on the nose. Full bodied but balanced on the palate. Good concentration, fresh acidity, firm but fine tannins. Long, savoury [...]

On Saturday one of those semi-regular gatherings of friends were the meal is pre-determined and those attending must bring suitable wine. To eat, slow roasted pork belly; to drink, an extraordinarily wide array of wines. As an aperitif, Champagne Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru. Rich and full with citrus, honey and significant autolytic [...]

A personal favourite among the winners of the Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition announced yesterday was the Diemersdal Reserve Pinotage 2010,  with it showing plenty of red fruit, fresh acidity and fine tannins. It’s the second vintage of this from the Durbanville property, grapes from a block of bush vines planted in 1972. Assistant winemaker [...]

Schalk Burger, owner of Welbedacht farm in Wellington, was in jovial mood after his big-volume, easy-drinking Meerkat 2009 placed among the winners at the Absa Top 10. He’s father of Schalk Jnr, part of the Springbok squad for this year’s Rugby World Cup and a former Bok himself, and is confident that the Springboks will [...]

Stellenbosch winery Spier had three wines among the 20 finalists in this year’s Absa Top 10 Pinotage competion, namely Private Collection 2008, 21 Gables 2009 and Naledi 2009, the latter going on to place among the winners. “21 Gables”  is the new branding for wines previously positioned in the “Private Collection” tier of the range.

The winners of the 15th annual Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition are: Beyerskloof Reserve 2008 Diemersdal Reserve 2010 Fairview Primo 2009 Kanonkop 2006 KWV The Mentor’s 2009 Laibach 2010 Naledi 2009 Rijk’s Private Cellar 2007 Schalk Burger & Sons Meerkat 2009 Windmeul Reserve 2010 During the awards function lunch, the 20 finalists were served in [...]

The South African Wine Index (SAWi) is a fairly recent initiative that attempts to collate the results of multiple local and international wine competitions in order to present one single score on a 100-point scale. Obvious shortcomings at this stage include the fact that SAWi has yet to get all producers to sign up and [...]

Last night an informal vertical tasting of all the vintages to date of Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage, viz. 2006, 2007 and the recently released 2008. The 2006 is a brooding monster way off drinking at its best, the 2007 quite Pinot Noir-like and already accessible although will no doubt reward further ageing, while the 2008 [...]

Those luckily enough to have tasted Pinotage from the 1970s will know that the variety is capable of very good, even great wine. However, in the modern era, it has gone through ups and downs, or rather downs and ups, wines from the mid-1990s very much more clumsy and rustic than they are now, local [...]

Last night Altydgedacht Tintoretto 2009 at swish inner-city hotel 15 on Orange. This becomes the Durbanville property’s flagship red and is another in the emerging category of freestyle red blends, featuring 45% Pinotage, 33% Barbera, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Shiraz. Pinotage takes the lead as Altydgedacht has enjoyed notable success with the variety in [...]