News

Johann and Peter de Wet, third generation owners of De Wetshof Estate in Robertson, didn't acquire an approach to sustainability on their family farm, they were born with it.

Danie de Wet, who made De Wetshof the first wine estate in the Robertson Valley, inherited an ethos of conservation from his father, who bought De Wetshof in 1949.

A philosophy of respect

Since taking ownership of the farm known as De Wetshof, three generations of the De Wet family have realised their responsibilities as custodians of a unique natural environment.

Noble Late Harvest is a special wine where a magical transformation takes place in the vineyard. It is a specific sequence of events that enables the “T” Noble Late Harvest to be made, let’s take a closer look at this iconic wine.

The term Late Harvest is used for wines made from berries that are left on the vine to gain extreme ripeness which drives up the sugar levels. In unique conditions, these ripe bunches pick up a fungus called Botrytis cinerea, which grows on the skins and slowly causes the very ripe berries to dehydrate. In the viticulture world, this fungus is known as Noble rot, hence Noble Late Harvest.

It is always exciting to find a range of wines that encapsulates a combination of elegance and value for money, making for the perfect everyday drinking wines. Ken Forrester’s Petit range is exactly this, so let us take a closer look.

This range is fruit-forward and offers an easy-drinking example of each of these varietal driven wines. The range has a wide selection with three dry whites, a natural sweet, three dry reds, and a rosé, you are guaranteed to find a wine to please all tastes.

Diemersdal, the sixth-generation family wine estate in Durbanville, South Africa, won one of four Gold medals handed to Cape wineries at this year’s Concours Mondial du Sauvignon Blanc held in Portugal. The Journal Sauvignon Blanc 2021, a barrel-aged rendition of this variety for which Diemersdal has become world-renowned, was awarded Gold as well as being awarded the Revelation Trophy for Best South African Wine on show.

Concours Mondial du Sauvignon Blanc is the most important international competition for Sauvignon Blanc wine and this year attracted 1 120 entries from 23 countries.

Since our first vintage, Haute Cabrière has specialised in the exploration of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.

After 35 harvests, we continue to love this magical time of year and the promise of a new vintage. As thunder and rain mid-March heralded the start of Autumn, the team at Haute Cabrière is busy picking the last of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes for the 2022 vintage, and we’re sharing how this year’s harvest has unfolded…

2022 Harvest Challenges

We talk about the terroir of a wine being its foundation, and terroir is greatly affected by Mother Nature.

De Wetshof’s Bateleur Chardonnay 2020 just won "Top 10 Chardonnay in the World" and a Gold medal from Chardonnay du Monde.

De Wetshof’s Bateleur Chardonnay 2020, an iconic South African white wine, has been adjudged one of the top 10 wines in this year’s Chardonnay du Monde, the world’s leading competition for wines made from the noble white grape of Burgundy.

Some 546 wines from 32 countries were judged by a panel of international experts at Château des Ravatys, the wine estate of the Pasteur Institute at Saint Lager in the Burgundy wine region of France. The panel only awarded 56 Gold medals.

Behind the bottle: 12 influential women & their award-winning wines

South Africa

Christiane Von Arnim

CEO of Warwick Estate

As the CEO of Warwick Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, Christiane von Arnim continues the legacy of ‘The First Lady of South African wine’ inspired by Norma Ratcliffe, the Cape’s first woman winemaker and creator of Warwick’s first vintage in 1984.

Just over a month after beginning its 2022 harvest, Diemersdal Estate from Durbanville has bottled its first Sauvignon Blanc, the estate’s signature grape variety. The Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc 2022 hits the market on 4th March, one of the first Sauvignon Blancs from this year’s Cape vintage to be found on shelf.

According to Thys Louw, Diemersdal’s owner-winemaker, the early release is driven by the market. “As owners of an established brand, Diemersdal is in a fortunate position to each year have customers clamouring for our Sauvignon Blanc from the new vintage,” he says.

Sauvignon Gris has been mostly unknown in South Africa, with only 0,12 ha under vineyard registered with SAWIS by 2020. That’s changing as two different producers have brought in the first commercial harvests of this enigmatic white grape this year.

David Nieuwoudt of Cederberg Wines first encountered Sauvignon Gris on a visit to Chile thirteen years ago. There, a tasting at top Sauvignon Blanc producer Casa Marin made such an impression that he couldn’t get it out of his mind.

It was a confluence of interests that finally brought Sauvignon Gris to the Cederberg.