Two nice wines, from two of my favourite white varieties. The first is an own-label from Berry Bros & Rudd. It’s a sort of better class of own label: Nikolaihof…
Three brilliant Swartland wines from Mount Abora
Here we have three brilliant Swartland wines from Mount Abora. They are really compelling, made with low alcohol in a natural way, with lots of interest. They are also living…
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…
Two lovely whites: Vincent Carême Vouvray Sec 2013 and Ganevat Grusse en Billat 2012
I have just been in the Netherlands, presenting a talk and tasting to wine professionals here over two days, with the same 10 wines both days. I met some really…
Millton Chenin Blanc Te Arai Vineyard 2013 Gisborne, New Zealand
I’m quite a fan of James and Annie Millton’s wines. I’ve visited them twice in Gisborne, once in 2008 and then again in 2013. It’s a pretty place, and for…
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…
Two lovely Loire Chenins
These were two wines I enjoyed at the IPNC Grand Dinner, sandwiched between Pascaline Lepeltier and Rajat Parr. Totally brilliant examples of Chenin Blanc from the Loire. Quite different in…
Consider Chenin
For the last couple of days I have been judging the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge, held at Klein Zalze in Stellenbosch. 126 different wines were entered, and…