Cinsault used to be the most widely planted red grape variety in the Cape, responsible for many of South Africa’s most ageable wines (it was often an undisclosed blending component,…
B Vintners: an exciting ‘vine exploration’ winery from South Africa
B Vintners is a collaboration between cousins Gavin Bruwer and Bruwer Raats. They describe it as a ‘vine exploration company’, and the aim is to tell the story of the…
Lunch at Chez Bruce with some of South Africa’s finest, plus some old world stars
Had a special lunch at Chez Bruce last Thursday, with some memorable wines. Keith Prothero was hosting, and also present were Chris and Suzaan Alheit, Peter-Allan Finlayson, Chris Mullineux, John…
South African fine wine comes of age
Yesterday was the New Wave South African tasting, held in a really cool venue under a vinyl shop in Soho. Rarely have I been to a tasting where the wines…
Back to school, in a wine trade sort of way
The new term has started. After the excitement of Cape Wine (which I will not forget for a long time), it’s now back to the busy wine trade calendar. The…
Rêverie Chenin Blanc 2014 Swartland, South Africa
This was a new discovery at Cape Wine. It’s the Rêverie Chenin Blanc 2014 from an old vineyard (1978 plantings) in the Swartland. The soils? Pure granite, no irrigation, picked…
Changing views on ripeness in South Africa: a welcome development
One thing that my tastings at Cape Wine has reinforced, is something that I have believed for a while. It’s that it is possible – even in quite warm climates…
South African Chenin Blanc: some highlights from the Cape Wine beach party
These are some of the highlights from the Chenin Blanc beach party at Cape Wine, which I caught on Monday afternoon. It’s great that Chenin Blanc is now fully recognized…
In South Africa, day 2
I woke up on Sunday early but excited. A few lucky people, including me, had been invited to Robertson by three producers: Graham Beck, Springfield and De Wetshof. And we…