On my recent trip to South Africa I was really taken by the fynbos, the native vegetation of the Western Cape. From a distance it looks like Mediterranean scrubland, but…
Iona Sauvignon: one of South Africa’s best
One of the many highlights of my recent South African trip was a visit to the cool-climate region of Elgin, where we were hosted by Andrew and Rozy Gunn at…
Sijnn: a really interesting South African red
Now this took me by surprise. It was a sample that appeared one day, and I had no idea of where it was from or what it was, or how…
An illustrated report from today’s big South African tasting
Spent an enjoyable few hours at today’s South African tasting, held in the rather dimly lit great hall at Vinopolis. The time passed quickly. There’s lot of interesting things going…
Visiting Elim, a distinctly cool South African region
The last leg of my South African adventure saw me heading south, to the southernmost tip of Africa itself. The Elim wine region is just 20 km from Agulhas, and…
South Africa, the final day
The last day of my South African trip. How I wish I could have stayed for longer. Last night it was a wine dinner at the home of Dave Johnson…
Day 3, South Africa – the Elgin marvels
My first visit to Elgin! One of the goals of this trip is to visit regions that previously I’d missed – Elgin, Elim, Hemel-en-Aarde. So it was off to Iona…
South Africa, day 2 – the Sauvignon seminar
It has been a really good day. Today was the SBIG seminar, and it was really well attended. The great and the good of the South African wine-making community gathered,…
South Africa, day 1
So I managed to sleep through most of the flight from London to Cape Town. I was helped by a pair of eye shades and some ear plugs, the first…