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Cape Winemakers Guild – 2020 Auction Wines
featured, South Africa
, Sep 2020
The annual Cape Winemakers Guild auction plays an important role within the South African wine industry, showcasing limited edition cuvées from some of its most revered winemakers, as well as raising money for vital internship programs. This year’s forthcoming auction is studded with gems.
Constance Craving: Vin de Constance 1992-2017
featured, South Africa
, Sep 2020
In Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility, one of literature’s finest works detailing the ups and downs of courtship and matters of the heart, Mrs. Jennings suggests to Elinor Dashwood that she drink a slug of finest old Constantia to recover from a fever brought on by her romantic interest, John Willoughby. Jennings counsels that the sweet wine not only cures “colicky gout,” but possesses “healing powers on a disappointed heart.” Like those characters in Austen’s novel, I do appreciate one of the iconic sweet wines of the world – one that, as I shall describe, is undergoing a quiet revolution.
Cellar Favorite: NV Mullineux Olerasay 2°
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite, South Africa
, Jul 2020
Readers that saw last month’s Vinous Live with Chris and Andrea Mullineux will have noticed that both interviewer and interviewee in Surrey and Swartland respectively, were drinking a sweet wine, the Olerasay 2°. Having received the bottle a few weeks earlier I kept it back for that interview. My expectations were high since the maiden release had received my highest ever score for a South African wine. Until now.
Cellar Favorite: 2013 Naudé Old Vines Chenin Blanc
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite, South Africa
, Apr 2020
Winemaker Ian Naudé is one of the unsung heroes of the South African wine scene, a quietly spoken man who shies away from the limelight and quietly goes about producing limited runs of stellar wines.
South Africa New Releases: Don’t Deny Yourself
featured, South Africa
, Nov 2019
As someone privileged with more than his fair share of rare and expensive Grand Cru Burgundy and First Growths, I can unhesitatingly state that the best of South Africa punches at the same weight. This report burgeons with wines born in climactic knife-edge, dry-farmed vineyards, often from ancient vines, and with minimal intervention by talented and frequently young winemakers in the opening chapters of long careers. Those winemakers are creating a scene that is incredibly exciting and dynamic.
Cellar Favorite: 1994 Kanonkop Wine Estate Paul Sauer
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite, South Africa
, Oct 2019
Kanonkop’s “Paul Sauer” constantly shows that world-class Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blends are well within grasp and, moreover, proves how supremely well they age.
Two Cape Crusaders: Alheit & Mullineux
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, South Africa
, Jun 2019
Two Chrises (Alheit and Mullineux). Two winemakers. Two Chenin Blancs. Two wines that have helped transform the image of South African wines. Two vertical tastings here in one Vinous article.
Some Great Reward: South Africa
featured, South Africa
, Aug 2018
The last two decades have seen the South Africa wine industry reinvent itself as one of the most dynamic in the world. For my first South Africa report on Vinous, I examine recent releases from established names and cutting edge boutiques. Wines range from bone-dry Sauvignon Blanc to the sweet wines of Constantia, courtesy of established winemakers to those making their debut. If you have not discovered what South Africa has to offer in terms of quality and value, then it is time to stop missing out.
Some Great Reward: South Africa - Selected Producer Profiles
South Africa
, Aug 2018
Selected producer profiles from Neal Martin's Some Great Reward: South Africa.
Cellar Favorites: Château Lanzerac: 1961 – 1968
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite, South Africa
, Aug 2018
During my recent visit to the Cape, I planned a lunch with Merchant Roland Peens. To my surprise, he munificently poured four bottles of Lanzerac Cabernet from the 1960s that he had recently acquired from a private cellar.