Had a great lunch at the Glasshouse, Kew on Monday, with Brian Smith, a now-biodynamic winegrower in Elgin, South Africa. I first met Brian and his wife Marion at the…
Two lovely Rieslings, South Africa and Germany
Yum, it’s Riesling weather. The sorts of places that make great Riesling aren’t always the ones where it is most useful: I find it the perfect hot weather wine, yet…
Dirty Julie, a Verdelho from the Swartland
I love everything about this wine. The packaging (you can’t see the wax capsule in this picture), the grape variety (Verdelho), the winemaking (natural ferment), the flavour, and – of…
Some South African pics of mine in a magazine
As a camera geek and utterly amateur photographer, I always like it when I get pictures of mine in magazines, or for that matter any other publications. These five have…
A brilliant South African Sauvignon, The Infidel
When I bumped into Pieter de Waal in the Loire last month, he gave me a bottle of one of his wines to bring home. I am glad he did:…
Vergelegen GVB 2005
I visited Vergelegen back in December 2005. At that time, they were one of the hottest wineries in South Africa. Since then, they have fallen off the radar a bit,…
Savage Wines, a new star in the South African wine scene
I’ve got to know Duncan Savage a bit over the last few years. He’s the winemaker at Cape Point wines, where he has been doing superb work for quite a…
Video: Hemel en Aarde, one of South Africa’s most dynamic wine regions
Here’s a film I made last week in Hemel en Aarde, which is one of South Africa’s most dynamic wine regions. It has come a long way in the last…
Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 1997
This MCC (Methode Cap Classique, a term used for traditional method sparkling wines from South Africa) deserves a post of its own. It’s 15 years old (almost 16) and it’s…