The pinotage grape turns 100 years old this year, as we note in another post. This is obviously a good reason to celebrate with a glass (and maybe discover that old story about “bakelite” or
Congratulations to the South African grape pinotage, which turns 100 this year. Pinotage was created in 1924 by Professor Perold who crossed two grapes, cinsault (in South Africa at the time called hermitage) and pinot
In Europe, the 2024 harvest has just finished and in South Africa the growing season for vintage 2025 is underway. The industry body SAWIS forecasts a good harvest. After a challenging 2024 season with extreme
Mealybugs are a feared enemy in the vineyards in California, Oregon, South Africa, and other places. These tiny bugs are dangerous because they spread the leaf roll virus (court noué in France) which causes the
South Africa has two world-renowned wine research institutes, the University of Stellenbosch and Nietvoorbij, also in Stellenbosch. The South Africa Wine Research, Development, and Innovation Team has recently presented its “2024 Research Book”. This publication
Many countries like to put food on the outdoor grill. The South Americans have their asado and in South Africa they have braai. People love their braai in South Africa. The food is important, of
Summer is here (or so they say – here we have 13C) and you might look for a lighter and fresher style of wine and skip the heavy and full-bodied ones for later. But still,
The Southern Hemisphere is in full swing with the 2024 harvest—or they have already finished. We visited South Africa in mid-February, and some producers had already almost finished. Andrew Wightman at Wightman & Sons in
A new producer from South Africa has been launched in Sweden but even if you do not live there, there’s is a good chance that you will be able to get hold of the wines
Vintage 2023 (harvested in Feb-Apr 2023) produced wines of excellent quality in South Africa. But the volume was less than in 2022, so it is perhaps not so surprising that South African wine exports in
Stark-Condé Wines is only a stone’s throw from the town centre of Stellenbosch, but when you arrive there, you feel like you’re in another world. Remote, quiet, calm. In the Jonkershoek Valley. Well, it’s not
The Steytler family has owned Kaapzicht Wine Estate for four generations. Today, it is run by Dani Steytler Jr and his wife Carin. They make a wide range of wines from 21 different grape varieties.
Sometimes the best vineyards are hidden away on the smallest roads. That’s certainly the case for Oldenburg Vineyards. I can’t claim to be competent to pronounce it THE best, but it is certainly up there
Springfontein Wines is, in some ways, very similar to many other small wineries in South Africa, and in other ways, it is very different. What it shares with many other small entrepreneurial wineries in the
Many European countries (including Sweden) drink and appreciate South African wines. It has been that way ever since Sweden and other countries started importing the wines again after the fall of the apartheid regime in
Rugby is a sport for wine drinkers and football is a sport for beer drinkers. At least that’s what they say in France. Oscar Wilde supposedly expressed it a little differently: “Rugby is a game
In Europe, people are exhaling after a challenging harvest season that has just ended (a fair few weeks ago by the time you read this). In South Africa, the new growing season has started and
The importer Carovin recently held a tasting with the winemaking couple and husbands Andrew and Rosie Gunn at Hotel Nobis in Stockholm. We tasted six wines. It was Iona Chardonnay 2022, Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2022,
The South African wine industry is recovering from the pandemic, but challenges remain. This is according to the latest Outlook report 2023-2032 from the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP). In 2022, the surface
Franschhoek in South Africa is famous, both for its wines and for its spectacularly beautiful location. A visit to the Holden Manz Wine Estate confirms that Franschhoek is well deserving of this fame. The wines
South Africa is in the middle of the harvest (now towards the end), a harvest that this year is unusually early for many producers. Oldenburg in the beautiful Banghoek Valley in Stellenbosch started harvesting three
The Old World and The New World. The wine industry has lived with these expressions for quite a few years. And it is convenient. It was natural to call the countries outside Europe The New
The Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards is one of the big wine competitions in South Africa with a few thousand entries. I was part of the jury, the people tasting and judging the wines,
There’s not a pot of gold in the vineyard but there is a stunning view over the landscape, a lush valley and towering mountains. Rainbow’s End Wine Estate is in an exceptional location, in the
“If they can do it, perhaps I can too,” she thought at an African Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference in 2014. That was the spark that made Ntsiki Biyela decide to launch her own winery, called Aslina
In 2016 that Rosa Kruger and André Morgenthal started The Old Vine Project (OVP) in South Africa to find and care for old, sometimes abandoned, vineyards and to draw attention to the value of old
This year’s harvest in South Africa is of exceptionally good quality. The volume of 1.3 million tonnes of grapes is slightly smaller than in 2021 but still larger than the five-year average. “An overall cool
SAWIS, South Africa Wine Industry Information and Systems, has recently published statistics for 2021 for the South African vineyards. The area has decreased since 2020 by 1,493 hectares and is now 90,512 hectares. It is
It’s still early days. But the first report on the South African harvest 2022 has arrived. The winter was as should be, with snow in the mountains and rain filling the dams. These were filled
Sometimes “terroir” does not matter so much. The Australian wine giant Treasury Wine Estates, which owns Penfolds and other brands, has taken drastic measures to survive the high tariffs imposed by China on Australian wine.
The pinotage grape turns 100 years old this year, as we note in another post. This is obviously a good reason to celebrate with a
Congratulations to the South African grape pinotage, which turns 100 this year. Pinotage was created in 1924 by Professor Perold who crossed two grapes, cinsault
In Europe, the 2024 harvest has just finished and in South Africa the growing season for vintage 2025 is underway. The industry body SAWIS forecasts
Mealybugs are a feared enemy in the vineyards in California, Oregon, South Africa, and other places. These tiny bugs are dangerous because they spread the
South Africa has two world-renowned wine research institutes, the University of Stellenbosch and Nietvoorbij, also in Stellenbosch. The South Africa Wine Research, Development, and Innovation
Many countries like to put food on the outdoor grill. The South Americans have their asado and in South Africa they have braai. People love
Summer is here (or so they say – here we have 13C) and you might look for a lighter and fresher style of wine and
The Southern Hemisphere is in full swing with the 2024 harvest—or they have already finished. We visited South Africa in mid-February, and some producers had
A new producer from South Africa has been launched in Sweden but even if you do not live there, there’s is a good chance that
Vintage 2023 (harvested in Feb-Apr 2023) produced wines of excellent quality in South Africa. But the volume was less than in 2022, so it is
Stark-Condé Wines is only a stone’s throw from the town centre of Stellenbosch, but when you arrive there, you feel like you’re in another world.
The Steytler family has owned Kaapzicht Wine Estate for four generations. Today, it is run by Dani Steytler Jr and his wife Carin. They make
Sometimes the best vineyards are hidden away on the smallest roads. That’s certainly the case for Oldenburg Vineyards. I can’t claim to be competent to
Springfontein Wines is, in some ways, very similar to many other small wineries in South Africa, and in other ways, it is very different. What
Many European countries (including Sweden) drink and appreciate South African wines. It has been that way ever since Sweden and other countries started importing the
Rugby is a sport for wine drinkers and football is a sport for beer drinkers. At least that’s what they say in France. Oscar Wilde
In Europe, people are exhaling after a challenging harvest season that has just ended (a fair few weeks ago by the time you read this).
The importer Carovin recently held a tasting with the winemaking couple and husbands Andrew and Rosie Gunn at Hotel Nobis in Stockholm. We tasted six
The South African wine industry is recovering from the pandemic, but challenges remain. This is according to the latest Outlook report 2023-2032 from the Bureau
Franschhoek in South Africa is famous, both for its wines and for its spectacularly beautiful location. A visit to the Holden Manz Wine Estate confirms
South Africa is in the middle of the harvest (now towards the end), a harvest that this year is unusually early for many producers. Oldenburg
The Old World and The New World. The wine industry has lived with these expressions for quite a few years. And it is convenient. It
The Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards is one of the big wine competitions in South Africa with a few thousand entries. I was part
There’s not a pot of gold in the vineyard but there is a stunning view over the landscape, a lush valley and towering mountains. Rainbow’s
“If they can do it, perhaps I can too,” she thought at an African Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference in 2014. That was the spark that made
In 2016 that Rosa Kruger and André Morgenthal started The Old Vine Project (OVP) in South Africa to find and care for old, sometimes abandoned,
This year’s harvest in South Africa is of exceptionally good quality. The volume of 1.3 million tonnes of grapes is slightly smaller than in 2021
SAWIS, South Africa Wine Industry Information and Systems, has recently published statistics for 2021 for the South African vineyards. The area has decreased since 2020
It’s still early days. But the first report on the South African harvest 2022 has arrived. The winter was as should be, with snow in
Sometimes “terroir” does not matter so much. The Australian wine giant Treasury Wine Estates, which owns Penfolds and other brands, has taken drastic measures to
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