Tim James announces the Top 20 South African wineries

Glenda — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:28:37 +0000

Writing on the independant wine blog Grape, Tim James wine writer and judge, compiled with the help of other Cape Town wine professionals a list of South Africa’s top wineries.

The last time that such a poll was undertaken was in 2006. Reviewing the results Tim points out several aspects such as the fact that the top five wineries were in a league of their own; that ten of the Top 20 wineries were not even mentioned in the 2001 poll and that four wineries are complete newcomers to the poll.

From a perspective of production areas the winning wineries represent only one of the five South African wine regions, Coastal Region, and within that only the wine districts of Cape Point, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Swartland. The Overberg and Walker Bay districts where Paul Cluver, Hamilton-Russell Vineyards and Bouchard Finlayson are found do not fall into a particular region.

Parameters were set for the judging so that each winery had to have had at least three vintages of marketed wines.

In order of votes received the wineries are:

Boekenhoutskloof

Kanonkop and Sadie Family Wines which tied.

Cape Point Vineyards

Vergelegen

Hamilton-Russell Vineyards

Paul Cluver

Rustenberg

De Trafford, Meerlust and Thelema which tied

Bouchard Finlayson

Jordan and Tokara which tied.

Hartenberg

Le Riche, Neil Ellis and Steenberg which all tied.

Chamonix and Morgenster which tied.

On the voting panel were wine writers Tim Atkin, Michael Fridjhon, Joanne Gibson, Edo Heyns, Tim James, Angela Lloyd, Melvyn Minnaar, Fiona McDonald, Christine Rudman, Cathy van Zyl, Philip van Zyl.

Retailers: Carrie Adams, Carolyn Barton, Ingrid Motteux, Roland Peens, James Pietersen, Caroline Rillema

Sommeliers and others who took part were Miguel Chan, Neil Grant, Higgo Jacobs, Cathy Marston, Andre Morgenthal, Joerg Pfuetzner, Kent Scheermeyer and Jonathan Steyn.

For the complete article visit www.grape.co.za

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South Africa’s most expensive wine ?

Glenda — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:48:48 +0000

Kanonkop has released for sale, in limited quantities to negocients only, the black label Pinotage 2006. This wine is made from the oldest vines on the farm, possibly 60 year old bush vines and sells for R1,000.00 ($132) per bottle.

Kanonkop Estate

One of the premier Cape Town wine farms, Kanonkop bottled for the first time in 1973 and continues to gather awards - like three top International Wine and Spirit Competition 2009 placings. They were Winemaker of the Year for Abrie Beeslaar, Best Red Blend for the Paul Sauer and Best South African Producer overall.

Wade Bales Wine Society and Cyber Cellar are the sole suppliers. The philosophy behind this exclusivity is explained by the estate co-owner, Paul Krige:

This wine is a highlight in Kanonkop’s history since the release of our first label in 1973. The first allocation to our two negocients will be 600 bottles with the next tranche of 400 bottles released a few months later once the market has determined the value of the wines.

With two negocients controlling the supply and demand, they will be able to buy back stock from willing sellers to sell on to parties willing to pay a higher price. This secondary market which the South African wine industry needs more of so as to establish itself as a producer of really premium wines, will open up a totally new set of dynamics in the wine industry, as well as create an appreciation for, and collectably of fine local wines.