Cape Wine began for many of us with a tasting of wines from the Old Vines Project. These wines were all made from vineyards aged 35 or over. It’s worth…
In Norway for the Sandefjord Wine Festival
I’ve just spent the weekend in Norway, at the Sandefjord Wine Festival. Sandefjord is a small seaside town about two hours’ train ride south of Oslo, and it’s a lovely…
Impressive new releases from Franco Lourens, a new South African star
Franco Lourens is assistant winemaker with Chris Alheit, and also makes his own wines in the Alheit cellar in Hemel-en-Aarde. I tasted through the latest releases of the Lourens Family…
The wines of Lismore, Greyton, South Africa
Samantha O’Keefe must be pretty tough. She has a spectacular wine farm in the middle of nowhere, and she’s been running it pretty much single-handedly since the beginning, as well…
New releases from Newton Johnson, Hemel-en-Aarde, South Africa
It was great to catch up with Gordon and Nadia Newton-Johnson to try through the latest releases from this well regarded Hemel-en-Aarde producer (for more details on them, see my…
Video: harvest at Gabrielskloof 3, making whites
In the third and final video from the 2018 harvest at Gabrielskloof, in South Africa’s Bot River wine region, I look at how white wines are made: Part 2,…
Video: an epic tasting of 93 of South Africa’s top sparkling wines
To most Brits, MCC refers to the Marylebone Cricket Club and it’s an abbreviation synonymous with this most complex and beguiling of sports (one of the many that we Brits…
Thorne & Daughters, one of South Africa’s most exciting producers
John Seccombe is the man behind Thorne and Daughters. John has a calm, reassuring presence, and a voice made for radio, and the locals – who can’t pronounce his name…
Video: harvest at Gabrielskloof part 2, making reds
Here’s part 2 of the three short films I shot during my 10 days at Gabrielskloof. Here I’m showing red winemaking. In case you missed it, here’s part 1:…