What I Drank Last Night

Two examples of Shiraz, each sitting at different ends of the stylistic spectrum. The Kloovenburg being from the warm Swartland was rich and broad, featuring plenty of dark fruit; the Zoetendal from cool Elim was more medium bodied with red fruit and pepper. Detractors of the Kloovenburg might say that it displays an over-ripe character [...]

Van Loveren in Robertson is South Africa’s largest privately owned winery processing some 4 500 tons a year, the equivalent of one million cases.  By far its biggest item is the Four Cousins Sweet Rosé, made from 60% red Muscadel and 40% grape juice with an abv of 7.5% and a residual sugar of 78g/l. [...]

Earlier this year the Swartland Revolution was announced suggesting overthrow of the existing order in favour of a new system. Those involved should be careful not to dispense with too much of the district’s history: Allesverloren situated at the foot of the Kasteelberg between Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek West dates back to 1704 and in [...]

Cederberg Shiraz 2007 is a pretty dramatic glass of wine. It has a forthcoming nose of red and black berries as well as plenty of spice. The palate is sweet, rich and full with concentrated fruit and smooth tannins. It’s made in an unashamedly modern idiom: alcohol by volume 14.5%, residual sugar 3.1g/l, 15 months [...]

The worldwide surface area planted to Shiraz vines has gone from less than 10 000 hectares in the early 1980s to more than 150 000 hectares in 2007/2008, according to Lynne  Sheriff MW, speaking at the 2010 La Motte Shiraz Experience yesterday. Who’s going to buy the stuff ? is the question because as Sherriff [...]

On Friday, an exercise aimed at putting the three examples of Shiraz produced by Stellenbosch winery Hartenberg in context. “The concept of terroir has its supporters and its naysayers,” says cellarmaster Carl Schultz. “Let’s see if these wines provide any insights”. First, the 2004 of the standard bottling, shown because this was a “classic vintage”, [...]

The 36th Nederburg Auction takes place on 3 and 4 September and organisers Distell are apparently confident that they can reverse the negative trends that the event has shown in recent years: despite a decline in total auction sales every year since 2005, there will be more wine on offer in 2010 than there has [...]

Solms Delta on the outskirts of Franschhoek arouses interest because it truly is so much more than a winery. Visitor attractions include an on-site museum exploring the slave heritage of the area, a restaurant called Fyndraai (Afrikaans for “the fine end of the last turn” or the brink of orgasm) serving proudly Cape cuisine, forest [...]

With hearty cassoulet on the menu for Sunday lunch, I thought the wines could afford to be on the more robust side. I put Solms Delta Africana 2008 (Shiraz desiccated on the vine) and Cirrus Syrah 2006 up against each other in a sort of vinous clash of the titans. The Africana proved a bemusing [...]

With the 2010 WINE magazine Shiraz Challenge set to take place next week, panel member James Pietersen and I decided to do a calibration exercise. We also invited Rianie Strydom, winemaker responsible for the Dombeya and Haskell labels, who agreed to include some of her pretty smart Shiraz that she has made recently. We tasted [...]