I’m in South Africa, judging the Top 100 competition. Last night we headed off to Klein Constantia, for a fine wine braai in the vineyards hosted by Hans Astrom (pictured…
Testalonga King of Grapes: precise elegance or ‘cranberry flavoured wheat beer’?
I was thrilled by this. It’s the latest red from Craig Hawkins in the Swartland, and it has been a bit controversial in the wine press. Andrew Jefford, normally a…
Two from the Swartland: Mullineux and Testalonga
Two lovely South African wines recently enjoyed. The first, quite conventional: the 2012 vintage of the fabulous Mullineux Syrah. While I love their Granite and Schist bottlings (I haven’t yet…
Site-specific Chenin Blanc from Mullineux – Quartz and Schist
As you all know, Chenin Blanc is officially one of the two coolest white grape varieties, along with Riesling. Chenin’s attributes are its good acidity, its structure, its ageability, its…
Christmas Day highlights (1): Le Moine Saint-Romain 11, Mulderbosch 13, Floridene 12
Some excellent wines yesterday for Christmas Day with family. I’m going to write up the highlights in two posts. The wines deserve it. First, three whites, all of which exceeded expectations….
Springfield Life From Stone Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Now this is a wine I have struggled with in the past. I have found it to be excessively dominated by those green methoxypyrazine characters, to the point of unbalance,…
Lunch with two great South African wines, and a good northern Rhône
Had a lovely long lunch yesterday. It was at Bread Street Kitchen, part of the Gordon Ramsay empire, located next to St Paul’s Cathedral. The dining room is huge. Really…
Some nice wines from Sivervis, Swartland, South Africa
I met up with Ryan Mostert (above right) and Michael Roets (above left) to drink wine. Ryan was until recently assistant winemaker at Reyneke, and with his partner Sam recently…
New vintages from Duncan Savage, one of South Africa’s stars
I’ve previously written about the first releases from Duncan Savage on this blog, giving them fairly hefty scores. Fortunately most serious commentators are in full agreement about these wines. The…