A quick plug for an amazing South African tasting in London next week. It’s organized by merchants SWIG, and the details are here. The line-up of wines and winemakers is…
Aeternitas, a new Syrah from South Africa
Johan Grimbeek is the winemaker at South African winery Kanu. Through top restaurateur Bertus Basson, I managed to get my hands of a bottle of his home brew – it…
Lunch at the Glasshouse, with Elgin Ridge
Had a great lunch at the Glasshouse, Kew on Monday, with Brian Smith, a now-biodynamic winegrower in Elgin, South Africa. I first met Brian and his wife Marion at the…
Two lovely Rieslings, South Africa and Germany
Yum, it’s Riesling weather. The sorts of places that make great Riesling aren’t always the ones where it is most useful: I find it the perfect hot weather wine, yet…
Dirty Julie, a Verdelho from the Swartland
I love everything about this wine. The packaging (you can’t see the wax capsule in this picture), the grape variety (Verdelho), the winemaking (natural ferment), the flavour, and – of…
Harry Haddon’s new video blogging, live from South Africa
Impressed by this. It’s Harry Haddon’s first video blog. I’ve met and drunk with him a few times in South Africa, and I reckon he’s a great new voice. This…
Some South African pics of mine in a magazine
As a camera geek and utterly amateur photographer, I always like it when I get pictures of mine in magazines, or for that matter any other publications. These five have…
A brilliant South African Sauvignon, The Infidel
When I bumped into Pieter de Waal in the Loire last month, he gave me a bottle of one of his wines to bring home. I am glad he did:…
Vergelegen GVB 2005
I visited Vergelegen back in December 2005. At that time, they were one of the hottest wineries in South Africa. Since then, they have fallen off the radar a bit,…