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New Vintage Pinotage Tasting
On July 22 the New Vintage Pinotage Tasting took place at Doornfontein in Stellenbosch. An annual occurrence it offers wine makers and farms the opportunity to taste the best 2010 Pinotage wine from their area.
Member’s wines are tasted initially within each area and the wine that is considered the best example of the area, or one that shows the best potential, is then submitted for the vintage tasting. This allows for a wide diversity of taste and style, as wines range from coastal, to inland areas even as far as the Orange River.
Wineries that participated were Swartland Winery, Fairview Winery, Wildekrans Wine Estate, Grootdrink Wine Cellar, Spruitdrift Cellar, Spier Wines, Kleine Zalze Wine Estate, Viljoendrift Wines, Perdeberg Winery, Alvi’s Drift, L’Avenir, Simonsig Wine Estate, Wellington Winery and Botha Cellar.
Wines were tasted in flights of 4, 5 and a further 5 allowing the wine makers to describe their wine after the tasting and for a further overall opinion to be offered after each flight. Discussion was encouraged as part of the reason behind the vintage tasting is for wine makers to share their knowledge and experience.
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Cape Blend Gets New Status
On July 23 an exciting announcement took place that not only set standards for the Cape Blend competition but also honoured the father of Pinotage.
Absa and the Pinotage Association announced the Absa Perold Cape Blend Competition, aimed at creating a signature style for the composition of true Cape Blends.
Key to the competition is the requirement that the blended wine should contain a minimum of 30% and maximum of 70% Pinotage. Pinotage, as a uniquely South Africa cultivar represents the African spirit in the depth of flavour and range of aromas and is the ideal basis on which the competition is built.
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Pinotage Reconsidered
an online posting by Christian Eedes
It’s indicative of how gracious my wife Jane is that she let me go off to a Pinotage tasting followed by a (long) lunch this past Women’s Day. The venue was Belthazar restaurant at the V&A Waterfront and also involved were godfather of the variety Beyers Truter of Beyerskloof, as well as James Pietersen and Jonathan Steyn, both involved in the running of Belthazar and sister operation Balducci’s.
The idea was to review the top end of the market towards generating a list of recommendations to appear in an article I’m writing for UK magazine Decanter, with the brief being to include both well established names and a few rising stars.
Read the full Article
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Top Billing Pinotage Guide
Look out for the August edition of Top Billing magazine, on sale from July 26. Inside there is an A5 supplement all about Pinotage, with recipes, info and competitions. Well laid out and beautifully put together it also contains the wheel of flavour for those starting out or not so sure of what they should be tasting.
A nice momento to have in the tasting rooms, we also have extra copies if you would like some. Once you have seen the insert, let me know if you would like some.
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Carry-off Café Culture
KWV has launched a convenient 375ml four-pack of Café Culture Pinotage in an easy to carry case.
This controversial up-beat wine was launched with the 2007 vintage and has become an icon of socialites alike.
To date Café Culture has only been available in 750ml, and in rhythm of this highly innovative brand, the 2009 vintage will be available in a convenient 375ml four pack. The new pack consists of four identical smaller 375ml bottles ensuring the look and feel of the product remain in tact. The four bottles are packaged in an easy to carry case.
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Soweto Wine Festival gets even bigger
As a result of its extensive growth and increasing popularity, the 6th annual Soweto Wine Festival, taking place from 2 - 4 September 2010 at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus, has increased the festival length to three evenings
Visitors will have an opportunity to sample over 800 of South Africa's best known wines from 100 wine producers including some of South Africa's most reputable, award-winning labels.
It is expected that in excess of 6500 visitors will be at the festival to delight in tasting a wide range of styles and cultivars.
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Neil Pendock warns of a dangerous new liquid form of Apartheid
As George Bernard Shaw pointed out "those who can, do, those who can't, teach." But when it comes to buying wine, South Africa's most experienced foreign taster, Dave Hughes, reckons wine educators are a much better bet than Masters of Wine, if you want reliable advice on something decent to drink. Certainly this is his experience in the UK, largest market for SA exports, as he told assembled wine hacks and cosmopolitan bloggers at the Nederburg pre-auction tasting last month.
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