What I Drank Last Night

A selection of recently received rosé bottle fermented sparkling wines tasted sighted and scored according to the 20-point system: J.C. Le Roux Pinot Noir Rosé 2008 Wine of origin Western Cape – 11.5% abv Pale pink. Strawberry fruit and vague farmyard pong on the nose. The palate is lightly fruit with very fresh but no [...]

                              Wine geek stuff about South Africa’s first bottle fermented sparkling wine Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year: • Conceived by the late Frans Malan, it was originally made from Chenin Blanc and sold for R3 a [...]

Only two wines rated 4½ Stars in this year’s Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge, the overall winner Cuveé Royale 2005 from Simonsig and this, so you could view it as currently the second best bubbly in the country if you wanted to. A blend of 54% Chardonnay and 46% Pinot Noir, it spent three years [...]

The results of the 10th annual Cap Classique Challenge sponsored by Amorim Cork were announced yesterday. Overall winner was Simonsig, the third time that this Stellenbosch property has taken the honours. The winning wine was the Cuveé Royale 2005. Haven’t tasted this particular vintage but this is typically a wine in a big, rich style [...]

From the June issue of GQ: Apparently only 4% of people who own a Land Rover Discovery ever go off-road, so when I was invited to drive one on the Land Rover Experience Trail at Simonsig wine estate in Stellenbosch, I accepted without demur. There has to more to these babies than being yummy-mummy runabouts, and I was about [...]

A tasting of ten examples of red blends featuring Pinotage, the line-up including wines that have come to the fore in one context or another as among the best in category. I reviewed the wines with Groot Constantia winemaker Boela Gerber and  James Pietersen, regular taster for Platter’s and beverage manager for Belthatzar and Balducci’s [...]

Lunch yesterday with Francois van Zyl, winemaker at Laibach in Stellenbosch. We dined at Cuvée, the restaurant at near-by Simonsig, and Van Zyl bought a bottle of Riesling from Baden producer Laible. “A nice lunchtime wine,” as he put it. Laibach was acquired in 1994 by the late German businessman Friederich Laibach and is now [...]

“Pink’s not a colour. It’s an attitude,” says Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines, unwittingly quoting US actress-cum-pop singer Miley Cyrus, on opening a bottle of his yet-to-be released Rosé this past Saturday. The wine is Mourvèdre based à la the wines of Bandol that he fancies and while local examples are generally dire, this [...]

It is curious to me how one particular producer can be a front-runner in a particular category for a while and then seemingly get overtaken by other producers who deliver wines even more impressive and aesthetically pleasing. Stellenbosch farm Simonsig enjoyed significant success with its Merindol Syrah in the mid-2000s, the 2000 vintage winning double [...]

With my sweetheart and me both feeling disinclined to fulfil grocery shopping duties for supper last night, we debated how best to dispense with the various soon-to-expire items in the fridge: broccoli-based stir fry vs. bratwurst with broccoli vs. pasta with chicken and mushroom in a cream-based sauce. I was soon sautéing the onions, followed [...]