A couple of days ago I blogged on South African Pinot Noir, with a film interviewing some key winegrowers. Well here’s the wine that prompted me to make that film….
Cape Wine: lunch at Bizerca, Cape Town
So, after a busy morning tasting, the Cape Wine Brits met for lunch at Bizerca (www.bizerca.com), a lovely French-themed bistro. There was a good buzz in the air, helped by…
Video: Pinot Noir in South Africa – an emerging story
This is the first of three films I made at Cape Wine, each focusing on individual varieties with a story to tell. It’s about Pinot Noir. South African Pinot used…
Cape Wine 2012, day 2, the Chenin conference
Up bright and early on Monday morning to head into Cape Town for the Chenin Blanc Association conference. Chenin is a super grape and South Africa has half of the…
Cape Wine, day 1
So I arrived with a jolly bunch of UK journalists in Cape Town, on a cold and rainy day. We’re all on slightly different itineraries here, so some of us…
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…
Weekend in the country, and three rich whites: Chile, South Africa and France
The long bank holiday weekend provided an ideal opportunity for a family get together. Remarkably, we managed to find a house big enough to take 15 on budget in the…
Mullineux Schist and Granite 2010
Swartland-based Mullineux is one of the most respected of the new wave of South African wine estates, and in the 2012 Platter Guide they achieved a remarkable clean sweep of…
The South Africa Wine and Spirits Board reject Craig Hawkins Cortez Chenin Blanc 2011 for a second time!
I have written before about how export approval systems in New World wine-producing countries can hinder producers who operate outside the commercial norms (here: http://www.wineanorak.com/exportapproval.htm) It’s a big problem for natural…