A Guide to Enjoying Wine to the Full Our first acquaintance with wine harks back about 9000 years, in China. It was only around 4100 BC in Armenia, however, that wine production kicked off in earnest. Glassware, on the other hand, is a more recent invention – that is, 1500 BC recent – when the …
The last year has been a challenge for most wineries – not just in South Africa, where newly implemented prohibition laws have brought this 300-year-old industry to the brink of collapse – but across the globe. Unlike other ardent spirits, wineries depend greatly on a sense of gathering to nurture the culture around their wines. …
The Cape Winelands have a long, 300-year-old history – one of the oldest of the New-World wine regions – that was built by family hands.
A GUIDE TO GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR GLASSWARE Over the last three-and-a-half millennia since glass was first invented, glassware has evolved from clunky, murky receptacles into clear, ultra-refined crystal. But why the need for this level of craftsmanship? At some point, something must have prompted us to look at a clay bowl or …
A Taste of De Grendel’s Proposal Hill Brut Rosé South African wine enthusiasts got quite excited when De Grendel launched their Proposal Hill Brut Rosé. Their wines have been consistently good – meticulous even – but never predictable or boring. Proposal Hill Brut Rosé does not disappoint. It’s a complex wine with a weightier palate, …
A Fresh Look at Méthode Cap Classique South Africa has been making wine for more than 300 years, but we only began adding sparkles to our wines about 50 years ago. In 1971, you could pick up a bottle of bubbles for a mere R3, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was the …
For many months now, Ernie Els Winery – an icon of the Stellenbosch Wine Route – has been undergoing extensive renovations to bring a fresh perspective on their prime position
Rewind to less than a decade ago, and you’ll find the name Quoin Rock riddled with scandal and ill repute. But around 2015, the wine estate took a sudden turn when it produced a wine that competed with the very best that the Cape Winelands had to offer. Scarce three years earlier, the farm was …
Bottled Orchestra – The Resurrection of Quoin Rock Read More »
As a nation, South Africans share a close bond with the land and agricultural production. As a result, much of our shared wisdom – our idioms, proverbs and sayings – takes on a pastoral character. One such pearl of enlightenment comes in the form of the old Afrikaans adage “‘n Boer maak ‘n plan” (translated …
The Story of How Chardonnay Came to South Africa Read More »
Like any great dish, a great wine is made even greater by its story. And with a history as rich as that of my home country, experiencing a South African wine is so much more than a journey of the senses — it’s about the people behind the wine. About a Boy The story of …
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