This story is continued from "Wine is too cheap: Working Harvest in South Africa (Part 1)" As a tasting exercise during meals, Burger pulled two bottles of wine for me and the assistant winemaker Drew to sample blind and guess the grapes and origin. We could ask four strategic questions Read More
I couldn't remember the last time I climbed a ladder. Living in New York for over a decade, it's just not something I ever have to do. Looking at its narrow frame and spindly rungs, lashed to the top of a seemingly skyscraper-high steel tank by a single, knotted rope, Read More
Red fruits and green peppers show on the nose. On the palate, the small percentage of Pinotage shows in the mix, with green pepper and rubber cutting through red and black fruits. Tobacco and cranberry come through on the mid-palate. This is an interesting wine for somebody curious about South Read More
The color is a pale gold. The nose offers classic viognier aromas of tropical fruits and citrus blossoms. Tropical fruits lead on the palate. Meyer lemon and mango lead, with banana and coconut in the background. The finish falls off a bit quickly, but this is a pleasant quaff, and Read More
It's been said that you shouldn't trust a vigneron if they don't have soil under their fingernails. By that notion, I'm not sure what to make of Waterkloof's head winemaker Nadia Barnard when we meet at their commanding property in the windswept hills near Stellenbosch. Not only are her fingernails Read More
What's your image of South African wine? Big-boned, smoky Pinotage, highly extracted Bordeaux blends, or super-ripe oaked Chenin and Chardonnay perhaps? These were the wine styles that put post-apartheid South Africa on the international wine map. You might be surprised if you tasted Jurgen Gouws's refreshing bottles. Visitors were scratching Read More
Never one to mince words, W. Blake Gray visited South Africa this year and in this and a companion piece on his own site, explored the effect of wind on terroir and wondered how much progress has been made in South African wine post-apartheid. South Africa makes 4.2% of the world's wine. Read More