South African Wine | Wine the Gap

May 23, 2013 Posted by Chris

Spice Route Wines moving forward

Chatting to Spice Route Wines winemaker Charl du Plessis at the London Wine Trade Fair it sounds like there are some good things happening for a top quality Swartland producer that tends to stay inexplicably under the radar.

Should I be drinking more Malbec?

It was an evening of Malbec at our wine club this past weekend. As a single varietal it is a wine that I don’t drink that often, but after Saturday’s line up I think it’s worth looking at more often. Malbec tends to be a part of a blended one, as opposed to being bottled on its own. First wine was from South African winery Doolhof. Interesting that quite a few of us, relatively novice... read more

Mar 14, 2013 Posted by Chris

Tesco manipulating wine prices to fool consumers

It’s nothing new, but here’s a great example of UK supermarkets manipulating wine prices in order to fool consumers into thinking that they are getting a great deal. This is not a secret (or a new practice) but it should not be allowed. This wine is on the shelf at £9.99. £9.99! Just think of the fantastic wines that you can get in the UK for £10 and then you have something like this. It has... read more

Aug 26, 2011 Posted by Chris

ABSA Top 10 Pinotage 2011

The results of the annual ABSA Top 10 Pinotage competition have been announced in Stellenbosch. Although Pinotage is planted outside of South Africa it remains the red grape most often associated with the country where it was created. The ABSA Top 10 is one of the most highly regarded wine competitions in South Africa, thanks to it’s simple formula and a track record built up over many years. The... read more

Jul 12, 2011 Posted by Chris

New Chateau Libertas label

I only noticed the news item today, discussing the new look label for one of South Africa’s oldest and best-known commercial wine brands, Chateau Libertas. This easy drinking wine was the aspirational option for new wine drinkers who had just moved up from Tassenberg! It’s a consistent quaffer and some years is actually surprisingly good. The fact that it comes from a huge producer has also... read more