74 tasters assembled in Cape Town and Johannesburg as Wine Cellar – fine wine merchants hosted their second luxury white taste-off. Ten of SA’s most expensive and luxurious wines were blind-tasted and the public tasters ranked these in order of their favourite to least favourite wines.
Diemersdal wine maker Thys Louw had just finished the first stage of the world’s toughest mountain-bike race, the Cape Epic, when he heard that he’d won two gold medals. Not on the bike, but at the Concours Mondial du Sauvignon 2018, the world’s premier international showcase for Sauvignon Blanc wine. Diemersdal took gold for the MM Louw 2016 and Eight Rows 2017, two of the wines from this Durbanville estate renowned for its interpretations of South Africa’s and one of the world’s most popular white wine varieties.
On the 19th of March, TOKARA was named as one of the World’s Top 50 Most Admired Wine Brands for 2018, making the brand one of only three South African wine brands to hold this global accolade by Drinks International. Congratulations to Tokara on this fantastic recognition so richly deserved. We are very proud to represent your stellar range of wines! Cheers 
Schalk-Willem Joubert has resigned as CEO of Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons after a career of 20 years during which he played a major role in building the winery into a premier South African brand with a portfolio of quality wines recognised throughout the world. He will leave the service of Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons at the end of May to pursue new opportunities in the South African wine industry.
Anyone who has ever been to a wine tasting, knows that there is a lot of ‘nose’ action. Swirling the wine in the glass to open the ‘nose’ and smelling the wine to identify the ‘nose’. This can be quite intimidating for wine novices and those who drink wine purely for the enjoyment it brings.
Enjoying internationally acclaim for the quality of its wine tourism offering, Franschhoek-based La Motte Wine Estate has again been acknowledged as Best Food and Wine Matching Experience in the 2018 edition of the Drinks International Wine Tourism Awards.
We’ve compiled a selection of some of the most beautiful tasting rooms in the Western Cape to while away the hours during the summer. Offering more than just tastings, our top picks provide lean-back luxury.
Pierre Jourdan was the first grantee of the land on which the Haute Cabrière Estate is now situated. It is traditional in France that the still wines of the vineyard are named for the Estate and that the sparkling wines are named for the original owner. The Pierre Jourdan range of Cap Classiques are amongst the earliest produced in the Cape under what is now called Cap Classique, which involves a second fermentation in the bottle, Champagne style. An early addition to the range was the Pierre Jourdan Belle Rose – pronounced rose, not ‘rosay’. The name was given to the wine by The Baroness Theodora von Arnim, grandmother to Takuan, the current Cellarmaster.
Cheap wine isn't necessarily bad wine, says South Africa's Best Young Sommelier.
"Many young guns and boutique producers are releasing affordable wines into the market, because they are not as well established in the wine market," says the 26-year-old Wikus Human, who was named SA's top young sommelier by the South African Sommeliers Association in 2017. Wikus is head sommelier and beverage manager of Marble restaurant in Rosebank, Gauteng.
"From my perspective, there are some real 'value for money' wines out there."