We're now working with some of the top wineries in South Africa, and several boutique importers, to bring many of the very best South African wines to the UK market. These wines are beautifully crafted, often in tiny quantities and represent excellent value for money. Please give them a try, you will be blown away by the quality.Now here's a country which has suffered at the hands of unscrupulous wine merchants and the large factory produced brands. I've tasted virtually hundreds of frankly awful South African wines wondering what all the fuss was about in the media. How could a nation have such a large wine industry if it was all such poor quality? The truth is, there are good South African wines, we just have to search very hard to find them in the UK amongst the mass of cheap plonk that's swamping the supermarkets and the greedy pub companies. Pinotage is a South African hybrid of Pinot Noir and Hermitage and can make good wine if you get the right one. Get a bad one and it can put you off for life.
| Zevenwacht As all our regular customers know, we personally select every wine on this site on it's own merits, we don't simply list every wine from each producer. Very occassionally we happen across an outstanding winery where virtually every wine they produce is something special, and that's what has happened here with Zevenwacht. We're very fortunate to have formed a good relationship with Denise and have the opportunity to exclusively offer our customers some of their very limited production top end wines. I urge you to give them a try, they're fantastic.Zevenwacht, owned and run by Denise & Harold Johnson, is an independent estate of 500 hectares with 200 hectares under vine, mostly noble varieties. Their winemaker, Jacques Viljoen, takes a bold approach to winemaking, using modern technology as well as traditional cellaring techniques to produce elegant premium wines. The estate comprises as well as the winery, of a cheese factory, a chef school, top restaurant with banquetting and conferencing facilities, as well as an inn and guest cottages, and is a fully licensed wedding venue all set in stunning surroundings! On top of all this they make fantastic wines too! |
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| Graceland Vineyards A small winery of 18 hectares backing onto the Heldeburg, owned and operated by Paul and Susan McNaughton with their children lending a hand in the cellar at busy times! They produce only a small quantity of red wines which are particularly good. They regularly score at least 4 stars from John Platter, although these latest vintages are yet to be rated. Susan also packages them beautifully (Strawberry Fields may be a little unartistic but the others look great).She adopted Renault's famous painting of the "Three Graces" for the winery and this appears on each bottle, which also come elegantly wrapped in a 3/4 paper jacket sealed with the Graceland stamp. They make a lovely looking (and tasting) gift.The picture is of two of their dogs, as Susan says "when the dogs start eating the grapes off the vine we know they're ready for picking". |
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| Jean Daneel Jean Daneel has been making top class wines in South Africa since 1983 when he was winemaker for Buitenverwachting where he began winning awards. In 1992 he moved onto Morgenhof for several years where he also picked up the trophy for best Chenin Blanc in 1997. He then set up his own small winery in Franschoek. In 2004 he moved further south out of the recognised wine producing regions to Napier close to Cape Agulhas, the continent's most southerly point. Here he built a small winery and planted his own small vineyard. In 2003 he won Wine Magazine's Chenin of the year and went from strength to strength being awarded 5 stars by John Platter in 2005, followed by a consistent string of awards and acknowledgements. But it's not just his Chenin that he's famous for, he also makes some sensational red blends too. Jean operates the winery himself with his son, Jean Pierre, and makes his wines in tiny quantities. They are very good indeed and we consider ourselves fortunate to be able to offer some for sale. |
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The Jordan winery today is run by Gary and Kathy Jordan making some outstanding world class wines. The 300 year old 146 hectare farm was purchased by Gary's parents - Ted and Sheelagh - back in 1982, when they undertook an extensive replanting programme of all the vineyards. Gary and Kathy spent a couple of years abroad learning their wine making skills then returned home in 1992 and began producing quality wines from 1993 onwards, once the vines were mature.Gary and Kathy are 'next door neighbours' and close friends with Harold and Denise of Zevenwacht - although I wouldn't like to walk from one house to the other! The secret to both estates' success is largely due to the same factors - yes, you need wine making skill and experience as well as a dedication to producing the best quality wine possible, but both these estates also have an array of different terroirs. Here lies the real skill of matching each grape variety to it's ideal terroir. Because of the specific landscape both estates have slopes facing to all four points of the compass, all at different altitudes, different degrees of slope and aspect to the sun, and all on 600 million year old soils with unique qualities. Add to this the cooling Atlantic and Indian oceans and the mediteranean climate and there's a myriad of different combinations.The Jordans have got it right - and so have Zevenwacht - with each variety in it's ideal location producing optimum fruit. Their wines are highly recommended.
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