South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of wine making history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more stylistic similarities with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and recognition for its wide variety of styles.
The South African wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Wineries can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a MediterraneanClimate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
The country's signature Grape is Pinotage">Pinotage, an indigenous cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in any other wine producing country. Shiraz is also widespread, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend).
However, white grape varieties account for 55% of the country's 96,000 hectares of vineyards. Chenin Blanc is the most planted grape variety in the republic with 18.
Decanter Fine Wine Encounter NYC is a one day event on Saturday 18th June bringing together prestigious wine producers and aficionados from around the globe in one of the world’s greatest cities – New York. We have curated a fantastic line-up of masterclasses which guests can participate in throughout the day and we’re very excited to host a unique Champagne masterclass with Krug – an opportunity to taste and converse with winemaker Jérôme Jacoillot from the renowned Champagne house. ...
The largest-ever year for entries, an incredible 18,244 wines were judged at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – with just 163 wines awarded a Platinum medal. ‘Winning a Platinum medal is something really exceptional’ said Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘Platinum is like the stratospheric level’ she commented, ‘so it’s really saying to the winemaker: this is a great wine.’ Making up just 0.87% of the total wines tasted at the 2022 c ...
Liv-ex chairman and CEO James Miles drew attention to ‘some sharp falls’ on Burgundy grand cru transaction prices on the group’s global marketplace for the trade, describing the trend on Twitter as a sign of a ‘correction long overdue’. Liv-ex’s Burgundy 150 index, which represents one indicator of market performance and features mostly grand cru labels, fell in value by 8.3% in the first six months of 2023. Some wines in the index have fallen by more than 20%. Other regional indices within the ...
