Top 100 wines of South Africa

Discovering the wine region of South Africa

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 Mediterranean Climate, 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.

Discover the grape variety: Cabernet franc

Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.

Food and wine pairing with a wine of South Africa

wines from the region of South Africa go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of beef bourguignon with tomato, lamb curry with coconut milk or wild rabbit with cider.

Organoleptic analysis of wine of South Africa

On the nose in the region of South Africa often reveals types of flavors of cream, citrus zest or melon and sometimes also flavors of passion fruit, baked apple or lime zest. In the mouth in the region of South Africa is a powerful with a nice freshness.

News from the vineyard of South Africa

Corpinnat announces large boost in sales

The 11 producers within the group saw total sales reach 2.3 million bottles for 2021 which erased the general 23% contraction in sales during 2020 and surpassed 2019’s 2.2 million bottles sold. What’s more, the per bottle price rose 2% from 2020 to an average of 17.35€. This is an important distinction in a country where sparkling wines are regularly found in supermarkets for 2€ a bottle or even less. The Corpinnat producers admit that this rise in price will unfortunately be offset ...

Aldo Fiordelli: ‘The east-facing vineyard absorbs the morning’s first sunlight’

I’m fortunate enough to taste a fair amount of fine wine each year and I have come to the conclusion that each of us is forced to build our own stylistic preferences, regardless of the appellation or classification of a wine. Instead of simply choosing a bottle of Bordeaux over Barolo, for example, most of us probably aim to drink each on the right occasion and, in doing so, carve out our individual preferences for these wines. My personal bias – which I must confess, to be fair and transp ...

Cambridge University’s King’s College earns £1.3m by auctioning off rare Burgundies

The ‘Generations of Jayer’ collection included 42 lots of some of the finest Burgundies ever bottled. A 12-bottle case of Grand Cru Henri Jayer for Georges Jayer, Echézeaux 1999 from Côte de Nuits led the charge, selling for £100,000 at the London auction. The second priciest lot was the Henri Jayer for Georges Jayer, Echézeaux 2001, which received a winning bid of £85,000. Henri Jayer was dubbed the ‘godfather of Burgundy’ after pioneering a range of key innovations in the region. He believed t ...

Top 100 wines of South Africa - Page 2