A few interesting South African reds tasted together. I’d heard a lot about the Restless River, and didn’t quite know what to make of it: Hemel-en-Aarde is cool climate for…
Lanzerac Pinotage 1966
Had an excellent tasting at lunch at High Timber today, focusing on older South African Chenin Blanc and Pinotage. It was really cool to be able to try this bottle,…
Beeslaar Pinotage 2012, a fabulous debut
Abrie Beeslar (above) is the winemaker at Kanonkop, and he’s doing a bit of homebrew. This, his debut vintage, is one of the most profound interpretations of the often tricky…
Some great old wines at Overgaauw, Stellenbosch
Had a remarkable dinner at Overgaauw, a wine estate in Stellenbosch, on Wednesday night. David van Velden, who hosted us, is the fourth-generation winemaker of this family property. Overgaauw has…
The best Pinotage?
Could this be the best Pinotage of all? Previously I have liked a few. The Scali example springs to mind,do the regular and black label Kanonkops. This is up there,…
First look at a new high-end Pinotage from Flagstone
The wonderful Bruce Jack sent me a bottle of a new wine that he’s making under his Flagstone label. Just 200o bottles of this Pinotage, from a single vineyard high…
Sink the Pink Pinotage!
I’ve ranted here before about how stupid the export approval systems in some countries can be. They are well intentioned: for a wine to be exported from South Africa and…
Lunch at La Trompette with Scali Pinotage
Lunch at La Trompette today, the Nigel Platts-Martin restaurant out in the wilds of Chiswick, west London. It was very good indeed. Starter: smoked haddock and creamed leeks with grain…
A Pinotage made without any added sulfur dioxide
Dudley Wilson, winemaker at Stellar Organics in South Africa, seems to have got the hang of making wine without adding any sulfur dioxide. His Cabernet Sauvignon has been listed by…