Pinotage

Hazendal Wine Estate Release An Impressive Array of Fine Wines Produced by Their New Winemaking Talent Kiara Scott-Farmer… 

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Situated in the heart of prime Stellenbosch terroir, the Hazendal Wine Estate is entering an exciting new chapter in its long history. With a legacy dating back to 1699, this historic property has long been synonymous with traditional winemaking, but under the stewardship of new head winemaker Kiara Scott-Farmer, Hazendal is being reimagined for a new generation of wine lovers.

Kiara assumed the role of Head Winemaker at Hazendal in early 2025, bringing with her from Brookdale Winery, a reputation as one of South Africa’s most exciting young winemaking talents. Born on the Cape Flats, she trained at Elsenburg Agricultural College before rising through the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme, and in 2024 she made history as the first woman of colour to win the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year award. 

Kiara Scott – Farmer in London.

At Hazendal, Kiara’s philosophy of minimal intervention centres on the belief that great wines are made in the vineyard, with a deep focus on understanding each block’s soil and character. This philosophy finds its fullest expression in the estate’s celebrated Bottelary Hills ward, whose unique, light Granitic soils lend the wines a transparent, ethereal fruit character not easily found elsewhere in Stellenbosch. Through her debut single-cultivar collection featuring Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Syrah, Carignan and Pinot Noir Rosé, Kiara is giving Hazendal’s terroir a fresh, confident voice, ushering the estate into a compelling new era. 

Hazendal Wine Estate Pinot Noir Rosé 2025, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.

This beautiful Sancerre-styled Pinot Noir Rosé is a very classically elegant wine that shows an intense salmon pink colour and boasts intense, highly seductive, mouth-watering aromatics of red berries, white flowers, white peach, and subtle wild strawberry hints. Medium bodied and cool, the mouthfeel is dry but slightly less mineral than her maiden 2024 release but deliciously fresh and tangy with an enticing assortment of red summer berry fruits, red cherries, and delicate dried herb notes on the finish. A wonderfully sophisticated Rosé expression with real intent and ambition. Drink now to 2030+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Hazendal Wine Estate Pinotage 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

This small 3,050 bottle Pinotage cuvée from the superb 2025 vintage has really allowed Kiara to flex her winemaking expertise with South Africa’s own homegrown cultivar Pinotage. Grown, produced and bottled on the Hazendal Estate, the wine was matured for 11 months in 500 litre French oak barrels along with some concrete tanks. Youthful but already a head-turning beauty, this wine reveals a shimmering, perfumed opulence, boasting intricate notes of violets, freshly picked rose petals, a summer medley of red and black berry fruits, mulberries, bramble berries and a subtle whole bunch sapidity alongside delicate cedar wood spice nuances. In the mouth, the wine is vibrant and fresh, the tannins effortlessly silky and soft, adding just sufficient ballast and frame to the wine. The purity and precision on the palate are breathtaking, the multiple layers of fruit, spices and tangy acidity seamlessly interwoven together creating a very juicy, attractively elegant premium Pinotage. Very impressive indeed. Drink now and over the next 8 to 10 years. 

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Hazendal Wine Estate Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.

One of Kiara Scott-Farmer’s signature grapes is of course Chenin Blanc, and the 2025 vintage has offered her the perfect canvas to create a true masterpiece. The aromatics are rich and enticing with complex notes of perfumed honeysuckle, white blossoms, peaches, wet hay and melted honey on warm white toast with a delicate kiss of cinnamon wood spice. The crystalline purity, clarity and complexity follow to a palate that shows an impressive textural density and yellow orchard fruit concentration while at the same time exhibiting a sensation of lightness, elegance and lithe weightlessness. The finish is delicately spicy and mineral with an overt underlying salinity that makes it deliciously mouth-watering. This new wine undoubtedly cements Kiara’s place at the top table of Cape Chenin Producers. Drink now and over the next decade.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Hazendal Wine Estate White Blend 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.11% Abv.

This impressive white blend forms part of the new ‘Estate Collection’ from Hazendal and is carefully crafted by cellarmaster Kiara Scott-Farmer. Made from primarily Roussanne and Marsanne, grown on a tiny 0.4-hectare site with weathered-Granite and Clay soils, the aromatics definitely transport you to the Northern Rhone with notes of apricot, yellow peach stones, dry straw, fynbos, quince and delicately honied chamomile nuances. Handled correctly, Marsanne and Roussanne can produced wines with a delightful acidity and this wine positively bursts forth with a tangy bright freshness, orange peel zest, honey drizzled peaches and delicately pithy wood spice nuances. The minerality is ever present and supportive, adding yet more complexity to this delicious white blend. Beautifully layered, intense, and harmoniously balanced, this wine is another impressive success for Cellarmaster Kiara. Drink now to 2034+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW) 

Hazendal Wine Estate Syrah 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

The Bottelary Hills is prime red wine territory, and with this maiden release Syrah, Kiara has utilised 22% whole-bunches in the fermentation before being aged for 9 months in 60% older 500-litre French oak barrels together with a 40% concrete tank portion. Bold, wild and exotically perfumed, the aromatics reveal attractive notes of violets, potpourri, rose petals and black pepper before more subtle hints of salty black liquorice, black cherries and black kalamata olive tapenade. In the mouth, the palate is cool, plush and polished with a medium body, silky fine grained tannins and a tangy fresh vivacity that makes the mouth water. The texture is sleek and elegant, showing Kiara’s signature weightless concentration, before finishing gently with a drying mineral persistence. A really majestic Syrah that simply does not put a foot out of place… and of course it is also crazy value for money! Drink now and over the next decade. (10,828 bottles produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines of Hazendal Estate are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines. The range also features a limited release single varietal Carignan 2025 bottled exclusively in magnums. 

Iconic Stellenbosch Winery Bellevue Estate Releases Their New Estate Pinotage 2023…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Bellevue Estate holds a unique place in South African wine history as the birthplace of Pinotage. In 1925, Professor Abraham Izak Perold planted the original Pinotage vines, a crossing of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, in the garden of the estate’s 1701 manor house, located in the Bottelary Hills ward of Stellenbosch. That single mother vine became the genetic source for the variety now considered one of South Africa’s signature grapes. 

Today, Bellevue Estate continues to honor this legacy, cultivating old-vine Pinotage on the estate’s decomposed Granite soils. With its rich terroir and direct lineage to Pinotage’s origins, Bellevue Estate remains a touchstone for the cultivar’s identity and evolution, making their Estate, Reserve and Heritage Pinotage Cuvées go to wines for discerning consumers. 

Bellevue Estate Pinotage 2023, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.

The resurgent Bellevue Estate has just released another very impressive “Estate” level Pinotage to complement their respected Reserve and Heritage cuvées. Aged for 12 months in French-coopered American oak barrels, the aromatics are lifted, beautifully fragrant and simply bursting with notes of perfumed violets, red and black cherries and an undertone of freshly baked blueberry crumble. In the mouth, the texture is soft and supple, the tannins silky and fine grained with delicately reductive blue and black berry hints, a delightful salty liquorice twist, and a concentrated, accessible, mouth watering finish. A deliciously joyful wine with real substance that will appeal to true blue Pinotage lovers as well as consumers new to the cultivar. Drink now to 2034+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW) 

The Bellevue wines are imported into the UK and are available on request through South African specialist, Museum Wines.

The Iconic Kanonkop Estate Prepares for the Release of the New Paul Sauer 2023 Cape Bordeaux Blend…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Kanonkop Estate is widely regarded as the South African wine industry equivalent of a Bordeaux First Growth. Situated on the lower slopes of the Simonsberg mountain in Stellenbosch, this fourth-generation family-owned estate is famous for its single-minded focus on premium red wines, drawing from old, dry-land vines planted in decomposed granite soils.  While Kanonkop is globally legendary for its Pinotage, the undisputed crown jewel of the estate has to be their Paul Sauer Cape Bordeaux Blend. First released in 1981, it is still regarded as one of the Cape’s true pioneering Bordeaux-style blends along with Meerlust’s Rubicon red blend.

Named after the current owners’ grandfather, a prominent statesman and viticultural pioneer, the Paul Sauer is simply a masterclass in elegance and power. The wine is typically a blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (traditionally around 70%), supported by Cabernet Franc and Merlot. True to its classic styling, it is aged for circa 24 months in 100% new French Nevers oak barriques.  

What truly sets the Paul Sauer apart is its incredible finesse, purity and power combined with a notable aging potential, easily rewarding cellaring for 20 to 25 years or more. Its iconic status was permanently cemented globally when the impressive 2015 vintage became the first South African wine to receive a perfect 100-point score from Master of Wine Tim Atkin (which was also rated 98+/100 on A Fine Wine Safari almost four months earlier). No doubt it’s a special wine every vintage, the Paul Sauer remains the archetypal complex, layered Bordeaux blend packed with cassis and cedar and always underpinned by incredibly fine-grained polished tannins. Regardless of which winemaker is at the helm, in true Bordelaise style, the Paul Sauer red remains an absolute benchmark for New World Bordeaux blends.

Kanonkop Estate Paul Sauer 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv. 

A blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, and 16% Merlot, the 2023 Paul Sauer shows a cool, tight, broody aromatics with intricate top notes of violets, black currant leaf, black cherry, blue berries, fynbos and subtle saline maritime notes with the oak still playing a background role even at this youthful stage. The palate is silky soft on entry, incredibly cool, strict, and focused with a fantastically fresh taut acid back bone together with a lovely ‘low pH’ feel, the fruits bristling with energy and a weightless, crystalline intensity. Very classical in the true sense of Paul Sauer vintages but undeniably elegant and incredibly polished. True die hard Kanonkop collectors are going to absolutely love this new release! Drink from 2026 to 2050+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kanonkop Estate Black Label Pinotage 2024, WO Stellenbosch, 14.4% Abv.

Made from the only north facing Pinotage block on the estate, all the others being southwest facing, and also their oldest vineyard planted in 1953, the wine is aged in 225 litre Burgundy coopered barrels from Francois Freres and Trumeau. The nose reveals dark alluring aromatics packed full of broody black berry fruits, crème de cassis, kirsch cherry liquor, mulberry compote and a smokey brûléed toasty exoticism. Framed by deliciously fresh but deeply embedded acids, the texture is majestically concentrated and pure silk in the mouth, almost akin to a turbo charged Grand Cru Burgundy. Such pristine harmony, beautifully bright acids and an effortless intensity on the finish. Wow! Another Pinotage block buster on the way! Drink from 2026 to 2045+.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Kanonkop wines are imported into the UK by Seckford Wine Agencies. Contact:

Pippa@seckfordagencies.co.uk

The Multi-Talented Chris Groenewald Hits London to Launch the New Releases of His Exciting Pounding Grapes Wine Range… 

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Chris Groenewald is a polymath of the South African wine scene, weaving together his background in theology, a deep expertise in blind wine tasting, and a “New Wave” approach to winemaking. Based in the Western Cape, Chris’s personal project, Pounding Grapes, reflects his philosophy of “naked, raw, and natural” wines that emphasize joyful character over any kind of technical rigidity.

As the captain of the South African World Blind Wine Tasting team, Groenewald possesses a world-class palate in anyone’s language, yet his own wines are anything but academic. His portfolio, which includes vibrant releases like the Bringing Back The Joy Skin-Contact Sauvignon Blanc and the Heart Candy Pinotage, focuses on minimal intervention. These wines typically undergo natural fermentation, often utilizing concrete eggs or old oak barrels to maintain fruit purity and texture without the mask of heavy wood.

Chris Groenewald from Pounding Grapes Winery.

Sourcing grapes from premium cool-climate sites like Durbanville, Pounding Grapes celebrates the “natty” wine culture – sometimes cloudy, often pithy, grippy and alive, while maintaining a high level of purity, cleanliness and technical precision. Whether he is reviving boutique labels like Terracura or crushing small batches for his own label, Groenewald’s work remains at the forefront of the Cape’s artisanal revolution, proving that serious wine doesn’t always have to take itself seriously.

Chris was recently in London and hosted an enlightening and informative tasting lunch at Noble Rot Mayfair, where we got to enjoy his new releases which are coming to the UK very soon through his importer, Wood Winters. 

Bringing Back the Joy Skin Contact Sauvignon Blanc 2025, WO Durbanville, 12.5% Abv. 

Malmesbury Shale soils facing table mountain. 7 days skin fermented, basket pressed into 1 x 500 litre Egg and 1 x 300 litre old oak barrel. Naturally fermented with malo fully completed. The aromatics are dusty and pithy, delicately grassy and herby with crushed Granite, lemon grass, pear and yellow orchard stone fruits. Delightfully fresh and tangy with an excellent fleshy mid-palate core of fruit, finishing with a zesty, intense salinity. Quite superb.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Terracura Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Swartland, 13% Abv. 

Chenin Blanc from vines planted in 1998. Basket pressed into one 525 litre egg. Lovely complex bruised yellow orchard fruit aromatics with hints of wet straw, waxy peaches, orange peel and savoury fynbos notes. Delicious weight, fleshy but beautifully characterful with excellent persistence on the finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Unicorns in the Sky Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Swartland, 13% Abv. 

Sourced from the ‘Sky’ Vineyard 75% Chenin Blanc planted 1998 and 25% from Kweperfontein Farm Chenin Blanc planted in 1964. Skin Fermented for 6 days, the Sky portion as per Terracura. Classical, waxy, savoury bruised yellow orchard fruit notes of the Paardeberg but this also has an intense Granitic hit of dusty, stony minerality, dried herbs and peach stone fruits with wet straw and fynbos hints. Incredible balance and restraint, with lovely orange blossom, and tangerine peel complexity.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Fairies in the Garden Semillon Gris 2025, WO Swartland, 12% Abv. 

Semillon Gris from the Kweperfontein Farm in the Paardeberg, with 7 days on skins, the big grapes packed with plenty of juice, open fermented and then into an egg and a 225 litre old oak barrel. A more natural leaning expression with delicious savoury notes, sapidity, orange peel, quince jelly and hints of yellow orchard fruits. So effortlessly juicy, tangy and bright, incredibly zippy, energetic and inviting. What an umami tinged complex stunner of a wine!

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wine writer Dr Jamie Goode merched up with his Pounding Grape cap.

Just Leave Me Flowers on My Grave Blend Chenin Blanc, 15% Abv.

65% left 3 years under flor (2023), 35% from fresh 2026 fruit. Blended a month ago and due to be bottled end May 2026. Saline and niche, nutty, tangy and umami salty without the cutting intensity of Sherry but with a salty, savoury complexity. The finish lingers – powerful and imposing with a pleasing walnut skin bitterness on the loooong finish. Idiosyncratic but also very delicious.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Heart Candy Pinotage 2024, WO Durbanville, 13% Abv. 

North facing vineyard, aged in two 225 litre oak barrels, the wine shows a lifted perfume intricacy and an exotic pink musk complexity, violets and red cherry rock candy notes. Super pure, bright and crystalline, this is delightfully translucent, energetic and vibrant with a smashable drinkability, tangy tart acids and a fabulous juicy length. Superb.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Where the Lines Bend 2025, WO Stellenbosch, 10.8% Abv. 

100% Cabernet Franc from the Bottelary Hills, 10 days cold soaked and fermented before being basket pressed into a concrete egg. The aromatics highlight the perfume and crunchy red fruit intensity, sweet cedar, crunchy red cherry and red currants. The delicate cedar spice sapidity follows to the palate with real energy and tension, tart linear acids and a cool, steely, taut focus with a hint of bay leaf spice on the finish. (1,300 bottles produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Terracura 2025 Syrah, WO Swartland, 13.2% Abv. 

100% wholebunch Syrah, then basket pressed into eggs and 300 litre barrels. Incredibly stalky, smoky, sappy and peppery over a dark fruited black berry, brambly fruit core. This is incredibly Oldy Worldy Rhone style Syrah with a super sleek creamy texture, incredibly finessed tannins with an attention to detail second to none. Wow!

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Contact Andrew@woodwinters.com for allocations and pricing. 

Bellevue Estate Continues Its Unstoppable Rise – Tasting Their Impressive New Releases…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The Bellevue Estate in Stellenbosch is the oldest commercial producer of Pinotage in South Africa, having produced both South Africa’s first bottled and award winning Pinotage. Bellevue’s story is one of bold decisions and forward thinking. When Pieter Krige (P.K.) Morkel couldn’t find Gamay vines in 1953, he embraced a pioneering South African cultivar: Pinotage. This decision not only shaped Bellevue’s identity but also contributed to the global recognition of Pinotage as a uniquely South African wine. “We currently work with the oldest average vine age in Stellenbosch with our youngest block 25 years old and our oldest being 73 years old” explains long time winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger.

Among the Bellevue Estate red range is a very special wine with a profound sense of place from one of the oldest commercial Pinotage vineyards in the world, planted in 1953. When the maiden 1959 vintage won trophies galore, Pieter Krige Morkel was crowned South Africa’s new ‘king of wine’. His hands-off approach then is replicated today by winemaker Wilhelm to let the grace and wisdom of the old vine vineyards shine through.

Beyond their historic Pinotage, the estate also possesses one of the five oldest Cinsault vineyards in South Africa, planted in 1952, which now forms part of their illustrious Heritage range. But in 2026, the Heritage range will be joined by their newly branded 1976 Old Vine Chenin Blanc that used to go into their Eselsgraf Reserve Chenin Blanc. Another sublime highlight is undoubtedly their phenomenal Cabernet Franc, a wine that won the Red Wine Trophy at the Michelangelo Awards with the 2022 vintage, and again last year, with the 2023. In this tasting, I review the new release 2024, and predictably, it’s business as usual. Finally, there is a reason Stellenbosch is known as the “Kingdom of Cabernet” producing some of the most exciting examples of Cabernet Sauvignon in the Cape winelands.

Bellevue Estate Eselgraf Chenin Blanc Reserve 2024, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv. (1976)

Bright, juicy floral aromatics with green apple, green melon, rock candy and dried hay. Piercing concentration leads the charge on the palate, tangy, fleshy and delicious mouthfeel and weight supported by green apple pastille, pear and white peach. Beautiful typicity with punchy intensity.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tasting with Bellevue Sales Manager Luan Aucamp.

Bellevue Estate Chenin Blanc Reserve 2025, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv. 

Not since the release of the 2021s has there been a South African harvest that has created as much excitement among producers and consumers alike as the 2025 vintage. When you taste this stunning hand harvested bush vine Chenin Blanc you really see the vintage in all its glory, the aromatics deliciously pure, vibrant and lifted, bursting with complex layers of green apples, white peach rock candy, talcum powder, and a delicately sweet fynbos spice after its rained. The palate is pure, intense, and concentrated with a chiselled, tangy fresh acidity that coats the mouth, preparing your taste buds for bursts of Granny Smith green apple fruits with a splash of tart yellow grapefruit citrus. Crisp and pure yet crystalline and textural, this wine is like a very well-tuned orchestra with every instrument playing in perfect harmony. Drink this stunner before it sells out. 

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Heritage Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.

This delightful new 2025 Chenin Blanc definitely sings the praises of this exceptional vintage in the Cape, boasting exotic aromatics of Muscat grape jelly, green honeydew melon, white peaches, and honeysuckle over complexing hints of wet straw and savoury leesy nuances. With such a ripe concentrated vintage such as 2025, you get to experience the full breadth and depth of this Old Vine Chenin Blanc that’s expertly balanced with tangy fresh acids, a delicate sweet and sour vibrancy together with a gently Granitic mineral salinity. Supremely harmonious and balanced with a majestic textural elegance, this youthful wine should develop a real personality with a few more years in bottle. This is another superb embryonic blockbuster from Bellevue. Drink from 2027 to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW) 

Bellevue Estate Pinotage 2020, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

Classical aromatics of savoury earthy black berries, cured meats, tilled earth and sweet Christmas spices. Acids are bright and the red and black fruits crunchy and intense, the mid-palate sleek and savoury. Punchy, approachable, and easy drinking.

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Malbec 2022, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

An exotic terroir driven aromatics laced with Buchu, fynbos and Eucalyptus complexity with black sappy berry fruits, chocolate peppermint crisp and dried herb spice. The acids are crisp and fresh, the black sappy berry fruits minty and attractive with brightness, a lifted black fruit energy and a sleek, mineral-tinged powdery tannin finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Atticus 2023 Cape Blend, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

33/33/33 – new, second, 3rd fill oak barrels used for ageing the 40% Pinotage, blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The aromatics show an attractive melange of creamy sappy black berry fruits, packed with earthy dried herbs, granitic minerality and savoury meaty hints.  The acids are tangy and energetic, the red and black bramble berry fruits creamy, extracted and fine grained, finishing with serious power, minerality and length. Classy wine that punches above its weight.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Tumara 2023 Cape Bordeaux Blend, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

The only thing possibly more exciting than a top Cabernet Sauvignon from Stellenbosch is a full throttle, five cultivar Cape Bordeaux Blend, and this 2023 is an assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The aromatics have many of the earthy, loamy, freshly tilled earth notes of the pure Cabernet Sauvignon but then reveals multiple extra layers of sweet violets, white blossoms, sweet black currants, black cherry and a delicate graphite minerality. The palate is plush, polished, and focused with a textural generosity consistent with the 2023 vintage, with all fruit brought in before the late season harvest rains. Once again, the mouthfeel is creamy, supple, and fine grained with sweet pliable tannins, soft well integrated tangy acids and a long, delicately toasty, brûléed finish. The oaking is expertly managed, marrying pure, plush fleshy fruits, leaving a sensation of hedonistic harmony and balance on the finish. A supremely well-constructed wine that also has legs for further beneficial ageing. Drink now and over the next 10 to 12+ years. Such a delight to drink.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Reserve Collection Pinotage 2021, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv. 

Aged in 50/50 new and second fill French oak barrels for 22 to 24 months. The aromatics are deep and broody with layers of black berry, creme de cassis, damson plum, mulberry, tilled earth, vanilla pod and sweet Christmas spices. The palate breadth and balance is impressive, dense, tight grained, harmonious and intense without losing balance and elegance. This wine ticks a lot of boxes and shows a lot of commercial appeal.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Long time Bellevue winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger.

Bellevue Estate Reserve Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

Aged in 60% new and 40% second fill French oak barrels, the aromatics are pure and regal, a Cabernet Sauvignon expression that shows why Stellenbosch is truly world class. Deep, dark black fruited aromatics with creme de cassis, black cherry, and spicy mulberry with Christmas spices, hints of tannery leather, black chai tea and cigar box. The acids are fresh and crystalline but tightly interwoven with structured black fruits, subtle hints of leafy, earthy dried herb spices, finishing with length and intensity and a subtle mineral undertone. Very classy indeed with plenty of stuffing for a cooler, fresher vintage.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Reserve Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

The Bottelary ward of Stellenbosch is prime Cabernet Sauvignon country and this delightful 2023 is a very classy expression, the aromatics deep, sumptuous and complex. There is an extra dimension of ripeness and density on the 2023 nose with deep, savoury tilled earth aromatics that melt into notes of wet tobacco leaf, earthy black currant and damson plum fruits with just a hint of pressed violet perfume. In the mouth, this wine is broad and creamy with the texture of velvet that is caressed by soft silky tannins, sweet fleshy black and blue berry fruits before a dusty, wet stone graphite-laden minerality on the finish. The extraction is expertly handled offering a plush, luxurious, fleshy depth of fruit with a genuinely accessible, generous opulence. So delicious already, why keep this too long in the cellar when you can enjoy its tangy, vibrant, fleshy opulence now. Drink now to 2036+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Reserve Collection Cabernet Franc 2023, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

Aged in 100% New French oak for 20-21 months. Shows classic Cabernet Franc notes with great varietal typicity – cedar, spice, tree bark, dried herbs and perfumed black berry fruits. The palate is cool, crisp and distinguished with sweet baking herbs, earthy leafy spice, tea leaf, lead pencil and tangy fresh black berry fruits on the finish. Tight knit, grippy, densely fruited and quite complete for the vintage. Undoubtedly among the top expressions of Cabernet Franc in SA!

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Reserve Collection Cabernet Franc 2024, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv. 

The Bellevue Estate’s Cabernet Franc quality is synonymous with premium quality winning multiple awards year after year. This 2024 is another outstanding example that combines the vintage condition’s translucent fruit purity and freshness with the winemaker’s pinpoint precision to yield a wine of outstanding beauty. The aromatics are stand out, supremely plush, perfumed and layered with sweet violets, sappy cedar, and cinnamon spices over hints of tea leaf, red currants and blue berries. Cool, precise, and attractively chiselled, there is a real elegant classicism to the texture, with satin soft tannins, bright lemon-like tangy acids and a long, piercing red fruited persistence on the finish. What a truly magnificent wine. Get your hands on a bottle at all costs! Drink now to 2036+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate Heritage Range Cinsault 2024, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv. 

Undoubtedly, one of the most famous premium Cinsault reds produced in South Africa, this 2024 shows intricate, complex aromatics laced with rose petal, potpourri, raspberry herbal tea, red cherries, fynbos, dried herbs, dusty stony minerals and intricate Turkish delight nuances. The palate is tight knit, compact and intense, deliciously sweet fruited, incredibly concentrated and intense with a sleek, harmonious mineral texture. A phenomenal expression of old vine Cinsault that combines power, intensity, precision and purity. Simply breathtaking. Drink now to 2050+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Wine Estate Heritage Pinotage 2021, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

Few Pinotage wines are as evocative as the Old Vine wines from Bellevue Estate. Incredibly deep, dense, dark black fruited aromatics reveal notes of violets, black berries, chocolate peppermint crisp, sweet raspberries, berry herbal tea and white pepper notes. On the palate there’s a pronounced menthol brightness and tart berry freshness together with delicious, sweet Christmas spices, delicate fynbos hints and exotic Asian spices. Beautifully powerful with immense drinkability and accessibility with an underlying seriousness. This is premium Pinotage… but not as you know it. Drink now to 2041+.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Wine Estate Reserve Pinotage 2023, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv. 

The 2023 Reserve Pinotage is an impressively complex expression of this grape from one of South Africa’s finest proponents. The aromatics are deep and broody, revealing layers of polished mahogany, bay leaf spice, vivid black and blue berry fruits, mulberries, and subtle caramelized vanilla oak spice nuances. The palate is full, fleshy, and noticeably broad and glycerol with a vivid acid frame that balances the sweet black fruit concentration with a beautiful freshness and supple, delicately creamy tannins. A bold, fleshy, opulent style of Pinotage with plenty of character and seductive charm. Drink now to 2036+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines of Bellevue Estate will be available in the UK soon from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.

The Old Vine Project A Decade On – Tasting a Selection of Heritage Certified New Release Wines: Part 2…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

In South Africa, the Old Vine Project (OVP) exists to protect the heritage of old vines and to ensure that old vineyards continue to thrive. Old vines are living history. Wines made from them embody decades of care, skill, and dedication. In South Africa, the OVP affords producers the opportunity to certify their old vine vineyards and wines. That it can do so is largely thanks to the South African Wine Industry Information Systems (SAWIS) database, and its records dating back to 1900. This database enables the OVP to verify planting dates and gives South Africa a unique global advantage – traceability and credibility. Members of the OVP may apply for the Certified Heritage Vineyards seal that clearly states the planting date for wine made from vineyards of 35 years or older.

When consumers think of the majority of Old Vine wines, chances are they will reference Chenin Blanc or Colombard, cultivars planted on mass years ago mostly for distillation. However, when it comes to red cultivars, the diversity of Old Vine wines on offer is a little more restricted. But among the leaders of the pack has to be Cinsault and Pinotage, two work horse varietals in the South African wine landscape.

Fuselage Wines Staggerwing Old Vines Cinsault 2021, WO Paarl, 12.5% Abv.

Danie Morkel is the acclaimed winemaker for Roodekrantz who also happens to make wines under his own boutique label called Fuselage – his family owns the Diemerskraal airfield between Wellington and Malmesbury which obligingly lends Danie’s brand the aviation link. Planted in 1954, Danie finds beauty in the mundane workhorse of Cinsault that has stood the test of time, endearing it to its operatives and taking it to an elevated status, to one of a classic and collectable wine. 

This 2021 is a charming expressive Cinsault red displaying intricate aromatics of fragrant pink flowers and rose petals, tart cranberries and red cherries over a savoury, earthy base of wet loam. The palate is cool and well defined, the crisp acidity lending a fine frame over which sleek, crystalline, translucent red berry fruits are elegantly draped. The fruit sweetness is subtle and sophisticated allowing a wet stone pithy minerality to shine through on the finish. Elegant, delightfully easy drinking and utterly charming. Drink now to 2032+.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Welgegund Heritage Wines Old Vine Cinsault 2024, WO Wellington, 12.5% Abv.

Established in 1777 and lovingly restored by the Brimacombe family since 2014, Welgegund – a Dutch word meaning “well bestowed” – regards their Heritage range of wines as a key part of their legacy with their Certified Heritage Vineyards a source of great pride. Their Certified Heritage Vineyard that produces their Cinsault grapes was planted in 1974. It is a dryland, bush vine and low yielding vineyard that produces top quality fruit. This Southwest facing vineyard has ancient, decomposed granite soils that add to the minerality in the wine and the vines are packed with hay bales at their feet to retain moisture and as a natural way of keeping weeds at bay. The fruit is harvested by hand in the early morning and cool grapes are delivered to the winery where the grapes go to open top fermenters, in mostly whole bunch clusters with stalks intact, and are then aged for 12 months in 500 litre French oak barrels before being bottled unfiltered in June 2025. Only 1,400 bottles were produced.

Wellington is of course home to the oldest Cinsault vineyard in South Africa (Basson Vineyard), so unsurprisingly, this 1974 Old Vine expression also shows plenty of pedigree loaded with attractive aromatics of wild strawberries, mulberries, and Pink Lady apples with a delicate dusting of cracked pepper spice and Granitic minerality. On the palate, the wine is soft, supple and approachable with a harmoniously fleshy mid palate that reveals cool, well integrated acids, a hint of salinity, silky powdery tannins and a pithy, red cherry fruited finish. Open, generous and beautifully approachable. Drink now to 2034+.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Heritage Pinotage 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.

Bellevue Stellenbosch is the oldest commercial producer of Pinotage in South Africa having produced South Africa’s first bottled Pinotage. Bellevue’s story is one of bold decisions and forward thinking. When Pieter Krige (P.K.) Morkel couldn’t find Gamay vines in 1953, he embraced a pioneering South African cultivar: Pinotage. This decision not only shaped Bellevue’s identity but also contributed to the global recognition of Pinotage as a uniquely South African wine. Bellevue currently works with the oldest average vine age in Stellenbosch with their youngest block 25+ years old and their oldest 73 years old.

Bellevue winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger.

This 2021 Pinotage is another special heritage wine with a profound sense of place from one of the oldest commercial Pinotage vineyards in the world. A registered single vineyard planted in 1953, this 1.85 hectare sustainably farmed old bush vine vineyard reveals an incredibly complex and exotic aromatics that’s multi-layered with red and black bramble berry fruits, hints of dark chocolate and peppermint crisp, and an infusion of sage and bay leaf dried herbs. The palate is full bodied but supple with a broad, creamy, luxurious opulence that is embellished with lashing of sweet black currant and mulberries, Christmas spice and a deliciously sweet and sour acidity that slowly melts away on the long concentrated finish. Deliciously accessible but super serious as well. Drink now to 2036+.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Boutique Winery Bruwer Vintners Reaches New Quality Heights with Their 2024 Releases…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

In celebration of their Bruwer family heritage, cousins Bruwer Raats and Gavin Bruwer Slabbert created Bruwer Vintners in 2014.  Their guiding mission was to master South Africa’s heritage varietals, namely Pinotage, Cinsault and Chenin Blanc / Semillon blends to express their heritage and terroir in a modern interpretation.

The Bruwer Vintners’ white and red releases have been incredibly solid, well made, classical expressions from the very beginning, but from the 2024 vintage we see a notable, and quite frankly, unexpected step up in quality, focus and intensity. I visited the winery in July 2025 to taste but sadly Gavin wasn’t available for me to quiz him on how exactly he’s managed to dial up the quality of his entire range. But the quality shift is undeniable. But don’t just take my word for it, seek out these new releases and discover some incredibly exciting new wines. 

Bruwer Vintners Haarlem to Hope 2024, WO Polkadraai Hills, 13% Abv. 

A white blend of 75% Chenin Blanc and 25% Semillon, with a portion of the Chenin Blanc fermented and aged in concrete, differentiating the 2024 from previous vintages. The wine is incredibly mineral and smoky on the nose, full of crushed granite, dried herbs, fynbos, tangerine peel and crunchy green apples. In the mouth, this blend is delightfully cool, pure and precise on the palate with a real sense of confidence and harmony, a wine fully at ease with itself. Super tangy, fresh and bright, the crystallinity resonates in the wine with such purity, streamlined tension and focus. This is an incredibly accomplished white blend that benefits from its new maturation tweaking. Drink now to 2035+.  

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW) 

Bruwer Vintners Lone Wolf Cinsault 2024, WO Stellenbosch, 12% Abv. 

Old vine Cinsault from the 1953 Bellevue vineyard, this wine is always a star performer in the Bruwer Vintners range. Aged in two 500 litre barrels for 10 to 12 months, the 2024 is already incredibly perfumed and precise, bursting with violets and rose petals, potpourri, Turkish delight, blood orange and juicy ripe cranberries with an intricate undertone of granitic mineral spice. The oaking is very much an afterthought, the palate deliciously fresh, pure and vibrant with an incredible intensity and concentration that all melts together so seamlessly into a wonderfully complete wine. This 2024 rises to new levels of vibrancy, energy, and vivacity, showing off the very best components of this heritage Cinsault block. Drink now and over the new next 10 to 15+ years. 

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bruwer Vintners Liberte Pinotage 2023, WO Polkadraai Hills, 13% Abv.

This new expression saw a reduction of the whole bunch portion to circa 15% with longer ageing in older barrels, with 18 months maturation allowing the wine to integrate and find a better balance. The results of these small stylistic tweaks reveal themselves on the nose and palate, the aromatics boasting an extra dimension of freshness and bright red berry fruit with hints of cranberry and succulent red cherry, red plums and red currants. Delicious brightness and energy, youthful vivacity and purity that truly champions this modern fruit forward styling of premium Pinotage. Drink on release and over the next 8 to 10 years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bruwer Vintners Lone Wolf Syrah 2024, WO Polkadraai Hills, 13% Abv.

The 2024 sees a 100% whole bunch styling, fermented in open top fermenters before being aged in older 300 litre barrels for 12 months. This Karibib block yields and incredibly pure and intense expression of Syrah with dense black berry fruits, sweet black peppercorns, black olive tapenade and savoury, meaty bruleed oak spice notes. The palate is beautifully fresh and vibrant, creamy and mineral with such a beautiful weightless concentration, a deliciously chalky, creamy minerality that melts away into a sweet, savoury, red and black berry fruit concentration with gentle hints of maritime salinity and seashore kelp. The aromatics definitely trade on intense perfume and purity rather than savoury, smoky bruleed notes, which keeps the wine incredibly fresh, vibrant and energetic. A really mouth watering expression of Syrah from Bruwer Vintners that takes the quality up another notch. Drink now and over the next 8 to 10 years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Bruwer Vintners wines are imported into the UK by Alliance Wines.

Abrie Beeslaar Flying High Once Again with Two Exceptional New Fine Wine Releases…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

As of August 2024, Abrie Beeslaar ended a highly lauded tenure at the Kanonkop Wine Estate, calling time on his position as head winemaker there in order to focus on his own wine brand, Beeslaar, which he initially launched with his maiden 2012 Pinotage vintage back in 2013/14. The Krige family was very accommodating of Abrie and his own little “side hustle” and over the years the wine built up a sizable following around the world not least because Abrie was credited with producing arguably the most impressive modern-styled premium Pinotage in South Africa under the Kanonkop Black Label. 

The Beeslaar creation was made in an altogether different style to the Kanonkop Estate Pinotage, possessing a sumptuous elegance, textural softness and harmonious balance of sweet black berry fruits with the most intelligent and sympathetic oaking regime. In many ways, where the Kanonkop expression held more of a fleeting resemblance to a Bordeaux red in style, the Beeslaar always seemed to portray more of a concentrated Grand Cru Burgundy elegance. There are of course many premium styles of Pinotage produced in South Africa today, but there are certainly few that are more impressive than Abrie’s Beeslaar expressions. 

Tasting with Abrie Beeslaar in 2024 in Stellenbosch.

From 2020, Abrie started producing small amounts of Chardonnay as well, and with his 2023 release, we see probably his most accomplished expression to date. New vintages are due to land in the UK in early 2025, so keep an eye out for these exceptional new wines.

Beeslaar Chardonnay 2023, WO Western Cape, 13% Abv.

The 2023 Chardonnay from Abrie Beeslaar is the most distinguished expression he has produced to date and offers an enthralling opulence and intensity commensurate with the high-quality reputation of the 2023 vintage. The grapes, 65% from Barrydale and 35% from Banghoek, Stellenbosch, were sourced from vineyards situated on a mixture of shale and high-altitude granitic soils, which impart the wine with an exceptional sense of luxury and textural sophistication. After a period of 48 hours of settling, the juice underwent fermentation in a combination ceramic vessels and 225-litre oak barriques, 20% new, before being barrel aged on its fine lees for 12 months to impart additional complexity, texture, and mouthfeel. On the nose, the aromatics reveal an alluring melange of honeysuckle, white blossom, yellow stone fruits, pithy citrus, lemon peel, crushed granite and delicately leesy, biscuity dried herb nuances. On the palate, there is a beautiful sense of power and poise with mouthwatering layers of sweet pineapple chunks, Braeburn apples, vanilla pod, and yellow grapefruit with an intricate line of crystalline acidity before a final rasping wet stone phenolic mineral grip on the finish. A thoroughly accomplished wine that promises to drink well for at least another 6 to 8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Beeslaar Pinotage 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Always one of the most impressive premium Pinotages produced in South Africa since its maiden release in 2012, the Beeslaar Pinotage has a style all of its own, boasting a soft, silky, fleshy concentration and lifted perfumed aromatics that are simply to die for. The 2022 release was fermented in open top concrete vessels with punch downs every two hours before being matured for 20 months in 225-litre French oak barriques of which 50% were new and 50% were second passage. The aromatics are rich, intricate, and complex with classical Pinotage notes of sweet violets, bramble berries, black plums, black cherries and notions of savoury cured meats and smoky chargrilled steaks dusted with Chinese five spice and bruleed mocha choc nuances. Abrie always has an expert knack of coaxing out the most seductively silky plush textured mouthfeel from his reds and this 2022 is beautifully soft and supple, sweetly fruited, and impressively concentrated with bramble berry fruits, crème de cassis, black cherry confit topped with picante black chocolate and exotic vanilla oak spice notes. True to the Beeslaar style, the concentration is focused and intense, the acidity refreshingly vibrant and the tannins silky, sweet and luscious. Pinotage of this quality needs a little time to show at its best and this 2022 is just starting to show glimpses of its true greatness. Drink on release and over the next 10 to 15+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Beeslaar Wines are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines. Retail prices are approximately £38pb for the Chardonnay and £48pb for the Pinotage.

One of South Africa’s Most Iconic Wine Estates Is Reaching for the Stars Once Again – Tasting an Exceptional Selection of Wines from Bellevue Estate…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

South Africa’s rich and textured wine history is being reinvigorated by several top classical estates that perhaps slipped off the fine wine radar during the late 1990s and early noughties in the face of a voracious young gun revolution, but which are now finding their feet again as well as the confidence to shout out about the incredible old vines in their possession and the exciting premium cuvées that they have been making of late. For me, few wine estates typify this characterisation more than the historic Bellevue Estate.

In possession of some of the oldest and most treasured old vine material of both Cinsault and Pinotage, Bellevue Estate has remained a bit of a ‘best kept secret’ in the wider SA wine trade partially due to the fact that they sell off small amounts of their incredibly sought after old vine grapes to some very famous producers in the Cape.

Tasting with Bellevue Estate Sales Manager Luan Aucamp.

I recently encountered some of their wines again in London at the Old Vine Conference Tasting 2024 and was blown away by both the quality and precision of their old vine Cinsault and Pinotage. So on a recent trip to South Africa, I took the opportunity to taste through a slightly wider range of their wines produced by Wilhelm Kritzinger who has been at the estate for over 23 vintages, and predictably, I was not disappointed!

Bellevue Estate The Reserve Collection Eselgraf Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Sourced from estate fruit in the Bottelary Hills from a single vineyard block planted in 1976 which is now Old Vine Certified. The yields annually are circa 1.5 tons per hectare which are fermented in stainless before being transferred to older oak barrels for four months with no bâtonnage and no extended lees contact, and finally racked back into tank to settle prior to bottling. Circa 4,000 bottles per year are produced from this 1.7-hectare block. 2023 represents the maiden release of the new Reserve Range, and before that, the grapes were being blended into the Bellevue Estate range.

This 1976 vineyard offers a tantalising snapshot into the complexities of old vine Chenin Blanc fruit that’s packed with lemon blossom, grated lime peel, white peach, crunchy green pear and orange citrus fruit aromatics over a pronounced dusty granitic minerality laced with dry straw and dried bay leaf spice nuances. The palate entry is deliciously tangy and fresh but also beautifully supple and harmonious with a sleek concentrated mouthcoating texture that shows poise and balance. The peach, quince and green citrus flavours are enticingly rich and intense, imprinting the finish with a truly powerful, fruit driven, honied persistence. An impressive Reserve white Chenin Blanc marked by its majestic old vine character. Drink now and over the next 10+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue The Reserve Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

A bright vibrant expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from vines on average 30+ year old (block planted 1987), with all fruit picked and safely processed in the cellared before the late 2023 vintage rains arrived. The aromatics are rich and detailed, with lifted perfumed notes of violets, wet tobacco, cigar box, red cherry, and sappy red plum over classic black currant and mulberries nuances. On the palate the texture is taut and sleek, looking very complete and harmonious already with the 60% new 300 litre French oak well integrated with the sappy black currant fruit that’s well balanced by spicy, cedary fine grained mineral tannins and a sumptuously soft, refreshing acidity, with a kiss of cocoa powder on the finish. A very accomplished wine. Drink on release and over the next 10+ years. (Circa 3,500 bottles produced)

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue The Reserve Collection Cabernet Franc 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Bottelary Hills fruit from a Cabernet Franc block of around 4.36 hectares of over 24 years of age that is considered one of the best examples of Cabernet Franc in Stellenbosch (some of the fruit being sold off), with the 2021 release representing the maiden vintage and this 2022 a more than worthy follow-up act. Tank fermented after a three-day cold soak and then aged in 100% new 300 litre French oak barrels for 24 months. A dense dark opaque plum purple in the glass, the aromatics are rich and heady with opulent notes of sweet cedar spice, earthy black currant, black cherry and hoisin plum sauce, embellished with hints of pink musk and blueberry rock candy. The palate is incredibly dense and well-constructed with exceptional balance and beautiful cultivar typicity. The texture is elegant and sultry, tight knit and spicy with hints of tangy black currant, led pencil sapidity, and an underlying salty cassis-tinged intensity with a black tea and graphite complexity. A very impressive Cabernet Franc that shows a real focused power and prowess but also an incredibly elegant, harmonious precision. Wow, what a special wine! Drink now and over 10 to 12+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW) 

Pinotage was first cultivated by Prof A I Perold in around 1925 when he crossed Cinsault and Pinot noir. The first Pinotage cuttings made their way onto Bellevue soil in the early 1950’s when owner PK Morkel was attempting to obtain Gamay Noir for planting. He was not able to find the cultivar he was looking for and approached the Agricultural College at Elsenburg to help. He was advised to try the newly developed variety, called Pinotage. At that stage, there were no commercial plantings of this variety, only experimental vines cultivated by the college. In 1953, together with Paul Sauer from Kanonkop, PK Morkel was one of the first few farmers to plant Pinotage on a commercial scale. His bold step paid off, since Bellevue’s Pinotage was awarded the General Smuts Trophy in 1959, being voted the best young wine on the South African National Young Wine Show out of 1,800 wine entered. To salute the vision of PK Morkel, the Bellevue Estate takes utmost care of this 1953 heritage Pinotage block which is still in production today. It remains the pride and joy of Bellevue, and accordingly, a very special wine is made from this block, called Bellevue 1953 Pinotage.

Bellevue Estate The Reserve Collection Pinotage 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

With such a legacy of fine Pinotage winemaking at the Bellevue Estate, there are no surprises that the Reserve Collection expression represents another incredibly accomplished red wine from the estate. The aromatics are bold and intense, boasting rich complex layers of sweet black plum, ripe mulberries, and sun raisined black cherries before notes of exotic Christmas spices, sweet clove, and sappy cedar nuances. In the mouth, the fruits are rich and creamy on the entry but also vibrant and tangy, revealing an energetic mouth-watering acidity framed by sleek, silky polished tannins. The palate is packed with blue and black berry fruits, black raspberries, and maraschino cherries making for a classically styled Pinotage that is both ripe and hedonistic but also incredibly accessible and generous. Plenty of winemaking know-how on display with this impressive red making it a perfect food accompaniment for charcuterie or chargrilled meat dishes. Drink now to 2032+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate The Heritage Collection 1953 Single Vineyard Pinotage 2020, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

The oldest commercial Pinotage in South Africa, that was submitted by the Morkel Family in 1959 to the South African National Young Wine Show and won best Pinotage out of 1,800 wines entered. That same ‘finished wine’ was later sold off to the Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW) which then released that same 1959 vintage wine in 1961, being labelled under the Lanzerac brand that was still owned by SFW at the time. Currently, the Pinotage block is 1.85 hectares leftover from the original 2.7 hectares planted. After 3 to 5 days of cold soaking in tank fermentation commences. After tank fermentation, the wine is transferred to oak to complete malolactic in 300 litre barrels, being a blend of 1st and 2ndfill (circa 50/50) for 18 months. In 2020, 3,940 bottles produced, but the average is normally around 2,500 bottles per year.

One always feels a certain sense of nostalgia and pride when tasting or drinking a wine made from a vineyard that helped define a nation’s winemaking history over the decades. The aromatics on the 2020 vintage 1953 Pinotage are very individual and expressive, revealing a complex cornucopia of black berries, raspberries, spearmint, chocolate peppermint crisp candy bars, dried thyme, and sweet Christmas spices. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied but fabulously plush, textured and mouthcoating, with wonderfully fine-grained tannins that are enveloped by waves of sweet savoury black berry fruits, earthy mulberry, stewed strawberries, dried herbs, and damson plum nuances. The old vine majesty of this vineyard is on full display with this wine, where a rich intricately structured palate shows off its weightless concentration as well as its understated power and intensity, all packaged into a seamlessly accessible block buster of a wine with an impressively long mineral finish. Drink this icon on release or cellar for 15-20+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bellevue Estate The Heritage Collection 1952 Single Vineyard Cinsault 2021, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.

The oldest Cinsault vineyard in South Africa is recognized as the Bason vineyard in Wellington that was registered in 1900 but was probably planted even earlier in the late 1890’s. This is followed by the famous Lőtter vineyard in Franschhoek planted 1932, that was for a while vinified by Leeu Passant wines, but which is now under the care of vigneron Lukas van Loggerenberg. There are apparently another two old blocks, one in Stellenbosch planted in 1950 and another in Wellington planted in 1951, and then the Bellevue 1952 heritage block, being the tie 5tholdest in the Cape winelands with a total of 3.8 hectares under vines. Similar to the heritage collection Pinotage, the grapes are tank fermented then transferred to oak barrels, 33% 1st fill / 33% 2nd fill together with 33% going into stainless steel tanks for circa 12 months of ageing before bottling. Spontaneous malolactic occurs in the barrels. 772 bottles were produced in 2021.

The Heritage Collection 1952 Cinsault is a truly majestic wine coming from one of the best vintages in the Cape in over two decades. The long cool harvest has helped preserve all the vibrancy, freshness, and integrity of the old vine fruit. The aromatics are classically fragrant and perfumed with an enticingly seductive red bramble berry fruit profile that shares multiple strands of elegance with top examples of young red Burgundy from the Cotes de Nuits, together with complex and compelling notes of wild strawberry and ripe cranberries, Turkish delight, rose petals, potpourri, wild garrigue herbs, fynbos and a granitic dusty mineral spice. While only medium bodied, the wine portrays an imposing intensity and understated power with tight knit fine grained mineral tannins, a beautifully integrated seamless acidity, and a wonderful pomegranate, blood orange and mixed berry laden length full of freshness, pink musk, and yet more Turkish delight nuances. A seriously profound expression of old vine Cinsault that delivers untold pleasures.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Great Schalk Burger Senior Presents Some New and Old Welbedacht Estate Releases in London with Importer Sporting Wine Club… 

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The Schalk Burger and Sons Welbedacht Wine Estate is found in the stunning region of Wellington where wine making and grape cultivation has been an essential part of the landscape for decades. It is also home to the Burger family, one of the country’s most recognized sporting names with both father and son having long illustrious careers playing Springbok rugby as loose forwards. 

While the Welbedacht farm was bought in 1997, the original historical farm dates back as far as the 1830’s. In 2000, Schalk Senior decided to pursue his dream of producing his very own range of wines and the 1,200 ton Welbedacht cellar was completed in time for the 2005 harvest. Since then, the estate has produced some of the finest quality grapes in the whole of Wellington and their wines are now among the quality leaders for the region. 

Enjoyinge a glass of the Welbedacht 1861 Cabernet / Merlot 2018 Blend that celebrates 50 years of the Richmond Heavies, part of the Richmond Rugby Club.

Schalk Burger Senior was recently in the UK to play in the Dunhill Pro-Am golf tournament in Scotland and kindly hosted an enjoyable wine dinner on his way back through London with his importer, The Sporting Wine Club.

Schalk Burger & Sons No.6 Shiraz 2016, WO Wellington, 14% Abv. 

The rugby legend of the great Burger sporting dynasty lives on in the form of the Schalk Burger & Sons No.6 red Rhone blend, a true tribute to the legendary No.6 loose forwards of Schalk Burger Jnr. & Snr. Syrah based with splashes of Mourvèdre, Cinsaut, Grenache, Pinotage and Viognier, the aromatics scream opulence, verve and vigour, packed full of sweet black berry compote, bramble berry spice, sweet earthy cassis, black olive tapenade and a seductive salty melted liquorice depth. Full, rich and creamy on the palate, the structure shows the same power and stature of its Welbedacht namesakes with ripe sweet tannins, bright tangy acids and a long, salty, maritime note on the finish. A textural masterclass that’s simply delicious. Drink now and over the next 5-8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Welbedacht Wine Estate Pinotage 2023, WO Wellington, 14% Abv. (Tank Sample)

An early preview of the soon to be released Welbedacht Estate Pinotage shows why this Wellington property is so suited to producing premium examples of this cultivar. The 2023 offers up fresh, ripe aromatics of red cherry, toasted macaroons, bramble berries, tannery leather, and red plum jelly with a kiss of vanilla herbal spice. Already fleshy and open-knit,  the palate shows a sumptuous breadth and depth of dark cherries and sweet black plums with a subtle hint of earthiness over exotic Christmas spices. Voluptuous and medium to full bodied, the showy concentration is accompanied by soft fine grained tannins and succulent acids on the long, persistent finish. A delightful Pinotage from the vintage. Drink on release and over 8-10 years. 

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Wines of the Welbedacht Estate are imported into the UK by The Sporting Wine Club.

http://www.sportingwineclub.com