White Blend

Premium South African Producers Descend on London for the Liberty Wines Portfolio Tasting…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The first quarter of the year always sees the Liberty Wines Portfolio tasting at the Oval in Vauxhall, London, which features an incredible array of wines from around the world. This year I decided to focus on tasting the exciting crop of new and current release wines from South Africa in their range. Many in the UK will be aware that several key South African premium producers have recently moved over to the Liberty Wines portfolio, making it now one of the most exciting line-ups with any importer in the UK. As always, it was fantastic to catch up with the producers in person like John Seccombe, Marelise Niemann, Craig Wessels, Peter-Allan Finlayson, Chris Mullineux and others.

The Restless River New Releases from Craig Wessels will be featured in a separate write-up on A Fine Wine Safari coming very soon.

Dr Jamie Goode tasting with John Seccombe.

Thorne & Daughters:

Thorne & Daughters Paper Kite 2024, 13% Abv.

Semillon planted in 1963 on Granite soils. Rich leesy aromatics with lemon and herbs, lanoline and buttered white toast. Crisp, fleshy but beautifully saline and textured on the finish.

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

John Seccombe

Thorne & Daughters Rocking Horse White Blend 2023, 13.5% Abv.

Rich and waxy with lemon and peaches, lactic leesy hints and some marzipan nuances. Fleshy, and pithy, packing a nice bit of power on the long finish. Impressive as always.

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

Thorne & Daughters Snakes & Ladders Sauvignon Blanc 2024, 14% Abv.

This Skurfberg vineyard delivers a pithy, waxy yellow orchard fruit characters that balance the slightly oily notes of the Sauvignon Blanc phenolics. The palate is chiselled and fresh with a vibrant saline acidity and a cool, pithy, mineral finish. Classy grown up Sauvignon!

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

Thorne & Daughters Wanderers Heart 2022, 13.5% Abv.

A Syrah, Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre blend. Shows exotic sweet spices, layers of red fruits and bramble berries. Acids are crisp and saline, the minerality adding extra crunch, definition and tension. Lovely textured red Rhone blend with weightless concentration.

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

Momento Wines:

Momento Chenin Blanc / Verdelho 2022, 13% Abv.

Complex leesy, herby, savoury aromatics before a more fleshy palate packed with granitic minerality and a yellow orchard fruit complexity. Serious effort as usual.

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

Momento Grenache Blanc 2023, 13.5% Abv. 

Pithy, dusty aromatics with grated apple skins, pear drops and granitic minerality. Beautifully balanced, the palate shows freshness, citrus pithiness, dried herbs and a crystalline wet river pebble finish. Top class example. 

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

Myself and Marelise Niemann

Momento Grenache Gris 2023, 13% Abv.

Waxy green apple cordial and wet grey slate aromatics. Lovely intensity on the palate, a pronounced salinity and a cool, crystalline, mineral finish. Impressive! 

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

Momento Paardeberg Grenache Noir 2023, 13% Abv.

Distinct bramble berry fruit aromatics, delicately perfumed with potpourri and rose petals. Beautifully cool, mineral and restrained in the palate, taut, crystalline and pure with crunchy saline chalky red berry notes on the finish.

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

Peter-Allan Finlayson

Crystallum and Gabrielskloof Wines:

Crystallum The Agnes Chardonnay 2025, 13.5% Abv.

Embryonic, pithy and fresh with white citrus, green melon and delicate fruit salad and cream notes. Lovely concentration, flinty stony reductive hint with a wet river stone finish.

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

Crystallum Clay Shales Chardonnay 2025, 13% Abv.

A little more citrus, peaches and cream with leesy hints and buttered brioche nuances. Dense, compact and textured, the concentration is punchy, the toasty melon and citrus fruits intense and long.

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

Gabrielskloof Elodie Chenin Blanc 2024, 13% Abv.

From 40- and 45-year-old Swartland Chenin Blanc vineyards. Taut stony mineral expression with apple, peach and pear drop aromatics. There’s impressively delicate weightless green apple notes, with a cool, crystalline, easy drinking finish.

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

Crystallum Peter Max 2024, 13.5% Abv.

Beautifully aromatic nose laced with potpourri, violets, and bramble berry spice. Incredibly intense and vibrant with piercing red berry fruits, cherry and a salty finish. Wow!

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

Gabrielskloof Syrah Whole Bunch 2024, 13% Abv.

A deliciously brambly, earthy peppery aromatics ps led full of smoky black berries, tar and burnt wood embers. Palate is soft and supple, cool, elegant and vibrant with crunchy acids and a long finish full of Christmas spices.

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

Gabrielskloof Cabernet Franc Landscape Series 2022, 14% Abv.

Beautifully expressive aromatics of sweet cedar, liquorice, tar and salty black currant. The elegance and salinity follows to a juicy, vibrant palate, finishing with graphite minerality and herbal spice.

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

Mullineux Wines:

Mullineux Old Vine White 2024, 13.5% Abv.

Still circa 70% Chenin Blanc with some Quartz vineyard but mostly low yielding Paardeberg Chenin Blanc. Aromatics are full of sweet herbs, crushed Granite and white peach with a weightless concentration, delicately pithy fruits and a yellow orchard fruit concentration on the finish. Punch and impressive for the vintage.

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

Mullineux Terroir Series Granite Chenin Blanc 2024, 13.5% Abv.

Lovely tangerine and white peach notes with hints of green apple, deep veins of liquid minerality and concentrated apple and white citrus on the finish. Layered, fleshy and intense, this packs a real punch.

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

Chris Mullineux

Mullineux Syrah 2023, 13% Abv.

A very pretty fragrant aromatics with red and black berry fruits, violets, lavander and sweet herbs. The tannins are cool and stony, pithy and mineral with notes of saline black currant, black liquorice and Granitic spice. Tangy, fresh and beautifully intense.

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

Mullineux Terroir Series Schist Syrah 2023, 13.5% Abv.

A beautifully fragrant and exotic aromatics showing violets, lavander, musk and stony minerality. The delicately perfumed nose gives way to a power packed palate, dense, savoury and spicy, packed full of black pepper, cured meats and smoky wood embers. A substantial wine indeed.

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

Leeu Passant Wines:

Leeu Passant Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, 14% Abv.

Intricate aromatics of sweet cedar, lead pencil, graphite, sweet Chai tea over black currant fruits. Silky and sleek in the mouth, cool, mineral and classically framed, this is really elegant and restrained for old world wine lovers.

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

Leeu Passant Chardonnay 2023, 14% Abv. 

Exotic aromatics of perfumed peach and apricot, honeydew melon, green apple and buttered white toast. Massive concentration on the palate with candied citrus, lime cordial and a fleshy green apple finish. Wow, this has a lot of stuffing.

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

Adi Badenhorst, a new agency for Liberty Wines.

Also on taste:  Restless River from Craig Wessels, AA Badenhorst Family Wines who’s sample bottles were mostly finished before I could taste them due to popular demand, the Bosberaad Wines from Paul Jordaan and Pauline Roux which I recently reviewed on A Fine Wine Safari, as well as a selection of Fairview Wines and Spice Route Wines. 

Pauline Roux, partner in Bosberaad Wines.

The 2025 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Wines Reviewed – Scores at the Doors…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again! Tasting the unique micro expressions from some of South Africa’s top producers is no easy task. It used to be a real expose of some really unique wine styles of the ever evolving South African wine industry, but now, it feels like producers are evolving, maturing, and certainly playing it a little safer. Is that a bad thing? No, not at all!

Speaking to tasters, collectors (at the tasting) and producers, the feeling was very much that ALL wines were impressive and worthy of praise. But, many did feel that the innovation had been slightly dialled down in the name of premiumisation and in order to offer the wider global fine wine market a unique selection of wines that can be offered to incredibly fussy international merchants and collectors in a congested fine wine market place – wines that can’t be compared and contrasted to anything already available on the market.

Some will reflect on these wines and feel that they are not sufficiently “different” from the regular cuvées offered on the commercial market, but one has to bare in mind that many of the buyers engaging in the CWG auction are not in a viable position to access workable / commercial quantities of wines from these top producers now that European allocations have become so tightly controlled and limited. The CWG breaks that mould and expands the market for South African fine wine, bringing some incredibly high quality wines to a wider, new generation of collectors and connoisseurs. That alone should surely be celebrated. I for one remain a MASSIVE fan of the CWG concept and auction process and encourage enthusiasts to buy with confidence whether bidding directly or buying through a merchant channel like Bordeaux Index.

Scores at the doors…

AA Badenhorst Family Wines ‘Out Of The Strong Comes Forth Freshness’ Carignan 2024 – 93+/100

The Saldanha Wine & Spirit Co. Saldanha Pale Dry SEA, SALT, SAND AND WIND N.V. – 95/100

Ataraxia ‘Sympathy For The Pinot’ Pinot Noir 2024 – 94/100

Ataraxia Under The Gavel Chardonnay 2024 – 95/100

Bartho Eksteen Wine Estate Fluister Landgoed Pinot Noir 2023 – 93/100

Bartho Eksteen Wine Estate Vloekskoot Sauvignon Blanc – Op Hout 2024 – 92+/100

Beaumont Family Wines Arturo’s Pinotage 2023 – 94/100

Beeslaar Wines CWG Pinotage 2023 – 96/100

Boschkloof CWG Epilogue Syrah 2023 – 97+/100

Boschkloof CWG Conclusion 2023 – 97/100

Cederberg Black Slate Shiraz 2023 – 93+/100

David & Nadia Veiling Chenin blanc 2024 – 96+/100

De Grendel Wines Op Die Berg Pinot Noir 2023 – 93+/100

De Trafford Chenin Blanc S16 2024 – 96/100

Delaire Graff Estate Banghoek Cabernet Sauvignon – Cabernet Franc 2022 – 94+/100

Dewaldt Heyns Family Wines CWG Chenin Blanc Reserve 2024 – 95/100

Dewaldt Heyns Family Wines Saailand Shiraz 2022 – 94/100

Ernie Els Wines CWG 2022 – 94/100

Frans K. Smit Lamed 2021 – 94/100

Graham Beck CWG Extra Brut Chardonnay Pinot Noir Cap Classique 2018 – 94/100

Graham Beck CWG Extra Brut Chardonnay Pinot Noir Cap Classique 2019 – 95/100

Jordan Wine Estate CWG Chardonnay 2024 – 94/100

Kershaw Wines Ziggurat Chardonnay 2024 – 95+/100

Kershaw Wines Vertiginous Pinot Noir 2023 – 94/100

Le Riche CWG Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 – 97/100

Lismore Estate Vineyards Valkyrie Chardonnay 2024 – 95+/100

Lismore Estate Vineyards The Sheltering Sky Syrah 2023 – 97/100

Luddite Wines Square Dog Grenache 2024 – 94/100

Miles Mossop Wines Maximilian 2018 – 94+/100

Adi Badenhorst in London for the CWG trade tastings.

Miles Mossop Wines Maximilian 2019 – 95/100

Mullineux ‘The Gris’ Old Vine Sémillon 2024 – 98/100

Neil Ellis Wines Amper Bo Tempranillo 2021 – 92+/100

Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Sandford Chardonnay 2023 – 96/100

Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Windansea Pinot Noir 2023 – 95+/100

Paul Clüver Family Wines The Wagon Trail Chardonnay 2024 – 95+/100

Raats Family Wines Fountain Terroir Specific Chenin Blanc 2024 – 96/100

Raats Family Wines Stella Nova Cabernet Franc 2021 – 95/100

Rall Wines Noa Syrah 2023 – 98/100

Rock of Eye CWG Auction Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 – 94/100

Savage Wines Auction Syrah 2023 – 97/100

Silverthorn Wines ‘Mad As The Mist And Snow’ Brut Nature Cap Classique 2019 – 95/100

Solo Wines Auction Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 – 93/100

Storm Wines Bokkeveld Shale Pinot Noir 2023 – 96/100

Storm Wines Bokkeveld Shale Chardonnay 2023 – 96/100

Strydom Family Wines The Game Changer Cabernet Franc – Merlot 2021 – 94/100

Strydom Family Wines Paradigm 2022 – 95/100

Warwick Auction Cabernet Franc – Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 – 93+/100

Thorne & Daughters Sand Castles 2024 – 96+/100

Luke O’Cuinneagain On a Mission to Make Vergelegen Great Again – Tasting a Selection of New and Current Releases from this Historical Cape Icon Estate…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The Vergelegen Estate has to rank as one of the most beautiful and historical wine estates in the fairest Cape. Established in 1700, it once stood as an iconic 3,200-hectare property just a stone’s throw away from the icy False Bay and the beach side hamlet of Somerset West. It was Willem Adriaan, the son of the famous Simon van der Stel, who first settled at Vergelegen. Over the centuries, the property has seen various ownership before the estate was sold to the famous industrialist Barlow family in 1941. Roll forward to 1987 when the estate was sold to mining giant, Anglo-American Corporation, being incorporated under their Amfarms division.

Anglo American initially hired Martin Meinert as their winemaker and planted 100 hectares of vines on the property, opening their impressive winery in 1992. Martin Meinert left Vergelegen in 1997 and was replaced by the legendary André van Rensburg in 1998. Andre helped re-establish Vergelegen as one of the great wineries of the Cape, becoming famous for championing Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, singularly and in blends, as well as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cape Bordeaux blends.

On Andre’s retirement in 2021, Luke O’Cuinneagain was hired from Glenelly Estate to fill the fairly sizable shoes and reputation left behind by André. I have caught up with Luke in London several times in the past months, most recently at Tim Atkin MW’s Best of South Africa Tasting in May 2025. The below notes act as merely a snapshot of the ongoing progress currently being made at the estate.

Vergelegen Sauvignon Blanc 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.

Bright and perfumed, full of white blossom, gooseberries, green apple and white citrus with a gentle savoury, leesy core. Plush, elegant, and seamlessly textural with creamy crystalline flavours of white peach, green apple and spicy mint leaf and dried herbs on the long finish.

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

Vergelegen Estate White 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

A delicious blend of 56% Semillon and 44% Sauvignon Blanc displays a delicately savoury earthy aromatics with hints of apple puree, fresh fennel root, smoky dried herbs, butter and lanolin. Wonderfully taut, pure, chiselled and precise on the palate with a liquid minerality, a tight fresh frame, beautiful clarity and a spicy white peach and pithy yellow citrus finish. Lovely focus and intensity. Very serious indeed.

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

Vergelegen Chardonnay Reserve 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Partial malolactic fermentation employed using 19% new French oak for circa 10 months. 7% portion aged in stainless steel that is then back blended. Natural and inoculated yeasts used. Aromatic nose with hints of creme brûlée, custard cream, and caramelised citrus with hints of apple puree, dried herbs, grilled nuts and salted pistachios. Seamless and elegant, very fine and textural, this is showing great potential already.

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

Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Rich plummy aromatics are packed with black currant, chocolate praline, and a delicately sappy, leafy spice kissed by vanilla pod. The texture is wonderfully plush and creamy, deliciously approachable and generous boasting sweet fleshy tannins and a long, long plush finish.

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

Vergelegen Merlot Reserve 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Quite a classical restrained broody aromatics with subtle hints of red and black currant, dried herbs, and a wet stone minerality. The palate is plush and broad with supple creamy silky tannins revealing a fine accessible freshness and vibrant fruit intensity from a reduced time of 8 months in French oak barrel. Impressive for a single cultivar Merlot.

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

Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

This warm dry vintage shows attractive aromatics of intense sweet black currant, sappy cedar, graphite and sweet cherry pipe tobacco. Fabulously attractive expression with an earthy savoury palate with some notes of molasses, damson plum, graphite and black currant compote on the finish.

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

Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Generally more classical and restrained with an altogether broodier mineral expression, showing black currants, stewed plum, and a saline oyster shell maritime precision. The palate follows with a deliciously vibrant acidity beautifully integrated into a soft textured black cherry fruited intensity. True to the vintage, a wine with plenty focus and class.

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

Vergelegen Estate Red 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

This blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot shows a fine complex melange of rich black and earthy red berry fruit flavours, freshly tilled earth, plum compote, and accessible saline cassis and stony graphite intensity. Texturally generous, creamy and soft textured, this is a powerful expression that finishes with a long, stony, restrained minerality. Very impressive.

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

Vergelegen Estate Red 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Delightfully dense and dark fruited, there is a broody depth to the wine revealed through black fruited mineral aromatics, crushed granite, graphite, with an underlying teasing hint of sweet cedar and sappy sandalwood. Impressively cool, elegant and weightlessly concentrated, the balance is exceptional with a very fine integrated acidity but an incredibly understated complexity. Beautiful.

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

Vergelegen V 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot, 13% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Franc. Cool, dark, and broody with aromatics showing subtle hints of blueberry, black currant, wet earth and damson plum. Sleek and silky, the palate is very fine and pin point pure with satin-like chalky tannins and a powdery, salty cassis finish. A very classy and understated wine with true pedigree.

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

Vergelegen V 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Cool sleek and restrained with a dusty granitic elegance over some delicate aromatics of blueberry, purple fruits, earthy cassis and a notable iodine intensity. The palate texture is taut and mineral, tightly strung with a spicy mineral intensity, cool stony graphite hints, and a subtle smoky finish. Beautiful balance, purity, and poise.

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

Vergelegen V 2019, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

A fine, dark, sumptuous earthy black fruited wine with hints of brûléed coffee beans, earthy black currant, tannery leather, black cherry and cedar spice. The power, depth and muscle of the 2019 vintage are laid bare for all to experience. Another very serious offering from the estate.

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

The Vergelegen Estate wines are imported into the UK and distributed by Seckford Agencies.

The Majesty of the Fitou Region On Full Display with This Attractive 2021 White Blend…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Domaine de la Rochelierre is a 15 hectare property in Fitou, right on the French south coast just north of Perpignan, run by Jean-Marie and Emilie Fabre. When I returned to the UK 25 years ago, you couldn’t walk into a supermarket, a high street wine shop or an indie merchant without finding an array of primarily red but also white Fitou wines. Somehow, in the clamour for big name Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone Valley wines, ancient quality wine producing regions like Fitou have been somewhat usurped by more fashionable, more marketed regions. But the promise of quality certainly remains.

At Domaine de la Rochelierre, they use the Cousinié method to care for their vines, a combination of organic and biodynamic principles without fully subscribing to either school, and their Cuvée Camille is a positively joyful blend of southern varieties, featuring 50% Vermentino, 30% Roussanne and 20% Grenache Blanc – which spends just a couple of months in barrel before bottling. Surely it’s time that value and quality seeking drinkers rediscover the magic of the Fitou region again?

Cuvée Camille 60 & XV, Domaine de la Rochelierre 2021, IGP Pays d’Oc, 13.5% Abv. 

The 2021 is an excellent white wine vintage across France in what was a much cooler, fresher vintage. Accordingly, this classy white shows exuberantly pithy aromatics of yellow grapefruit, lime peel, fresh fennel root, green herbs and a wet Granite minerality. The palate is deliciously crisp and fresh with a fine supporting weight of yellow citrus fruits, wet stones, white peach, nutty nougat, garrigue herbs and a pithy phenolic grape skin grip on the finish. What a beautifully versatile, food friendly wine. Drink now on release and over the next 3 to 4 years. 

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

The wines are available in the UK from Private Cellar for £98 per 6 inc. (£16.33pb)

http://www.privatecellar.co.uk

Wellington’s Welbedacht Wine Estate Introduces Two New Value Blends – Tasting and Reviewing the Oakdene 2024 Red and White…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Drawing on the decades of wine experience of Schalk Burger’s Welbedacht Estate in Wellington, Western Cape, sees the winery launch two new blends that will hit the UK market soon. While the Welbedacht farm was only bought in 1997, the original historical farm dates back as far as the 1830’s. 

In 2000, Schalk Burger 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 Wellington region. 

Welbedacht Oakdene Cape Blanc de Blancs White Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 13.55% Abv.

Blend composition: Sauvignon Blanc 42%, Viognier 26%, Chenin Blanc 21%, Chardonnay 11%.

An attractively aromatic new white blend from the Welbedacht Estate, this youthful Oakdene 2024 shows a distinctively lifted bouquet of white flowers, mint leaf, dried oregano and thyme with an underlying pithy white citrus fruit and wet stone minerality. Deliciously lush and tangy in the mouth, the palate it textural and fleshy with notes of grassy gooseberry, ripe papaya, ruby grapefruit, and white peach nuances. Vibrant and fresh, the finish is glycerol and long with delicately savoury herbal hints. This is a wonderfully versatile white, perfect with or without food accompaniment. Drink now to 2028+.

(Wine Safari Score: 90/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Welbedacht Oakdene Cape Red Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 14.68% Abv.

Blend composition: Shiraz 41%, Merlot 33%, Mourvedre 26%.

The new Oakdene red Cape Blend offers a cornucopia of plush ripe flavours, majestically perfumed and fragrant with earthy black currant, black plum, earthy mulberry, eucalyptus and delicate spearmint nuances. The palate is equally inviting, fully loaded with sweet black and blueberry fruits, earthy plum compote and spicy black cherries before vanilla pod, sweet cedar, and an exotic Chinese five spice complexity. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, enticingly plush and fleshy with creamy spicy tannins and a hoisin plum sauce note on the tangy, drying finish. There is a lot of ripe joyful winemaking packed into each bottle, making this a perfect BBQ wine for the summer. Drink now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.

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

Sutherland Winery Excels with Another Cool Climate Rhone White Blend 2023 Release…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Understandably, much of the international Cape white blend wine hype has justifiably been focused on Chenin Blanc based wines which often incorporate portions of Semillon, Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Semillon Gris, Palomino, Verdelho and even Chardonnay. These blends have created a unique white fine wine ‘space’ that few, if any, other wine producing nations can compete in. This category has been one of South Africa’s great wine success stories globally along with, arguably, pure varietal Old Vine Chenin Blanc.

The 2023 release was awarded 5 Stars in the Platter’s Wine Guide 2025.

But we should not forget that many producers have long been looking at alternative white varieties that have historically performed well in warmer European regions like the Rhone Valley and the Languedoc, which have far more in common with the Cape’s more Mediterranean climate than either Burgundy, Bordeaux or the Loire Valley’s more continental climates do. 

Sutherland Vineyards in Elgin is owned by Stellenbosch icon, Thelema Mountain Vineyards, being established in the early 2000s by owner Gyles Webb, to focus on small-scale, cool climate wine styles. With vineyards located just 9km from the cooling Atlantic Ocean at altitudes between 140m and 250m, the conditions are ideal for aromatic cultivars such as Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay and their new release Viognier Roussanne. (RRP R250 per bottle in SA.)

Sutherland Viognier Roussanne 2023, WO Elgin, 13% Abv.

Sutherland was always established to pursue cool climate expressions and this Rhone blend of Viognier and Roussanne is an aromatic white that was fermented in seasoned barrels for 10 months in order to add complexity, texture and mouthfeel. On the nose, the wine boasts aromatics of yellow stone fruits, pear, summer orchard fruits, white peaches and apricots over an intense and well-defined crushed gravel mineral dustiness with a sprinkling of white pepper and dried baking herbs. The creamy, gently glycerol palate is enlivened with a deliciously tangy fresh acidity with layers of white peach, lemon grass, marzipan, spicy herbs, and a pronounced nutty wet stone minerality, finishing with real drive and persistence. This is an impressive Rhone blend with the verve and vigour of the 2023 vintage and a delicious concentration to match. Drink this energetic beauty on release or age for 2 to 3 more years under screw cap to develop the peach and marzipan characters. 

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

Tasting the Sensational New Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Weskus Wit Versnit (West Coast White Blend) 2023…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Sakkie Mouton has been at the forefront of experimental winemaking in the Vredendal and Koekenaap region for the past 6+ years producing some of the most enticing premium white and red wine offerings that are clearly inspired and influenced by the rugged West Coast vine growing lifestyle. Through adversity and hardship, comes rays of brilliance, and this new experimental white blend of 80% Old Vine Colombard and 20% Palomino sourced from Vredendal vineyards is another absolute triumph for Sakkie.

Over the past years, Sakkie has been experimenting with a wide range of white varieties from Chenin Blanc to Colombard, Vermentino to Chenel, Palamino to Muscat de Alexandrie, and his last new release, the 2023 Assyrtiko, was another wonderful revelation on his continuing path of experimentation and blending.

Old vine Colombard vineyards in Vredendal.

The usual outlet for Sakkie’s white blend experimentation normally falls under his Full On Misfit cuvee, that has evolved over the years into a beautifully harmonious, complex white expression quite unlike anything else on the market. This is of course part of the whole raison d’etre for so much of Sakkie’s winemaking focus, sourcing grapes in the once fairly obscure Vredendal region, better known in the past for bulk winemaking. The Grape Cavalier Wit Versnit is a delicious new white expression that avid followers of Sakkie’s wines will not want to miss out on.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines The Grape Cavalier Colombard – Palomino White Blend 2023, WO Vredendal, 11.8% Abv.

This delicious Weskus Wit Versnit (West Coast white blend) is another triumph of terroir from Sakkie Mouton, opening with picante granitic aromatics that are heavily laden with oyster shell, sea breeze salinity and brine over delicate nuances of tangy white citrus, grated lime peel, lemon herbal tea, wet chalk, stem ginger spice and gentle hazelnut undertones. The palate is equally intense and beguiling, delivering a tart, mouthwatering experience tightly interwoven with fresh laser-like acids, another burst of ‘salted lemons after a savoury tequila shot’, freshly cut Granny Smith apples and an invigorating mineral tension that reverberates on the long maritime finish. A really fabulous new creation that has Sakkie Mouton’s signature Weskus winemaking genius written all over it. This appears to be a once-off experimental cuvee from Sakkie as he continues to push the boundaries of experimental winemaking. Decant and drink on release or cellar this beauty for another 5 to 8+ years.

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

The Sakkie Mouton wines are imported into the UK by South African fine wine specialist merchant Museum Wines. The Grape Cavalier retails for circa £37pb.

Sakkie Mouton Releases His Third and Most Accomplished Full On Misfit White Blend 2022 to Date…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Sakkie Mouton continues to grow his cult reputation and build a quality name for himself and his rugged west coast vinous expressions, all made from some of the most unforgiving vineyard areas in the whole of the Western Cape, four and a half hours north of Cape Town. The vineyards for this specific blend were planted between 1986 and 2017 on Sandstone and silt soils between 15 and 25 kilometres from the cold Atlantic ocean.

Having spent time with Sakkie Mouton in October 2022, and then again in March 2023, before his two most recent visits to the UK, I can clearly see that the young adventurous winemaker that I met in April 2019 at Spec & Bone Restaurant in Dorp Street, Stellenbosch, to taste his maiden 2018 Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc, has matured and evolved into exactly the bright young talent that I envisaged all those years ago when I described him as “the most exciting talent since Eden Sadie hit the South African wine scene.” It is fulfilling to see Sakkie grow and prosper and especially pleasing to see how popular and collectable his wines have become, not only in South African but also in the UK, Scandinavia and further afield.

Sakkie Mouton presenting a Masterclass in London in June 2023 at the South African High Commission.

The thing about Sakkie, like Eben all those years ago, is that he is on his own mission and has never looked to mimic or copy current wine styles or wine trends in the market. Exceptional talents like Eben or Sakkie have the passion and vision to follow their own dream, their own style, and create something new and noteworthy in a saturated wine world. That is exactly what Sakkie has done with his current wine range, promoting the very best old vine fruit from the west coast and Vredendal / Koekenaap in particular, just like Eden did with the Swartland in the early noughties.

Sakkie Mouton in his Vredendal Chenin Blanc vineyard in October 2022.

The Revenge of the Crayfish 2022 review will follow soon but will sadly probably be sold out before the ink is dry. But if you hunt around, you may still be able to pick up a delicious rogue bottle of Sakkie’s Full On Misfit White Blend 2022. If all else fails, reset your metal detector and watch out for Sakkie’s first red release in September 2023 – a Koekenaap Syrah that I have tasted three times, with each consecutive encounter impressing me more and more. It’s a veritable Allemande Cornas meets Jean-Luc Jamet Cote Rotie in style. But again, you are going to have to be very quick off the mark if you want to secure an allocation. So it’s onwards and steadily upwards for Sakkie Mouton.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Full On Misfit 2022 White Blend, WO Western Cape, 12.69% Abv.

1.6g/l RS | 7.0g/l TA | 3.25pH

The Full On Misfit 2022 white blend is a wine made from four different vineyards, located near the cold Atlantic Ocean, stretching from Vredendal to Koekenaap on the West Coast. An ever-evolving blend, the 2022 consists of 54% Chenin Blanc, 22% Colombard, 18% Macabeo and 6% Muscat d’Alexandrie. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with only a small addition of sulphur, the aromatics show a distinct perfumed floral purity with top notes of white blossom, lime leaf, lemon grass, white peach, lime peel and salty maritime notes of sea breeze, kelp and oyster shell. The palate is beautifully refined and harmonious displaying an impressively round, glycerol mouthfeel together with bright, tart, electric briny acids, sea water and savoury nori seaweed over bright, zesty citrus notes of lemon pastille, lime peel and yellow grapefruit. The nine months in barrel with regular bâtonnage broadens the palate and fleshes the wine out adding impressive texture and mid-palate stuffing. With its ingrained West Coast DNA, this wine will never be short on salinity and liquid minerality, two distinct hallmarks of all the wines Sakkie Mouton makes from these rugged Wes Kus grapes. While this is undoubtedly one of Sakkie’s most accomplished white blends to date, his experimentation looks set to continue unabated. Drink this on release after a decant and over the next 8 to 10+ years.

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

Wines are imported into the UK by Museum Wines and Woodwinters. Allocations are available upon request. Retail price for the Full on Misfit 2022 White Blend is circa £29.99pb.

Marelise Niemann and Anysbos Continue to Build An Enviable Track Record of Star Studded Releases…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

Marelise Niemann officially launched her own Momento label in 2013 when she was still working for Beaumont winery in the Bot River region. She has since taken up wine making duties at Anysbos Winery in the Bot River owned by Peter-Allan Finlayson’s uncle-in-law with her maiden vintages released from the 2017 vintage.

Marelise had also been making her Momento wines at Gabrielskloof along side Peter-Allan and John Seccombe (Thorne & Daughters) but has also moved production of these wines to the Anysbos Winery. The 2019 Disdit white is a blend of 70% Chenin Blanc, 29% Roussanne and 1% dryland grown bush vine Grenache Blanc naturally fermented and then aged for 10 months in old barrels.

Anysbos Disdit 2019, WO Bot River, 13.5 Abv.

The first time I tasted the 2017 Disdit white blend I was blown away. So what to expect from the follow-up 2019? Predictably the wine shows much more tension, flinty reduction and impressive minerality like many top SA 2019 whites. The aromatics reveal a complex melange of white citrus, wet thatch, dried herbs, fresh fennel, yellow pithy orchard fruits and a curiously alluring, earthy mineral undertone. The palate fruit expression is cool and tightly wound showing a herbal intensity, pithy white peaches, savoury buttery notes and a vibrant, fresh textured finish. Very impressive indeed! Pop this in the cellar for 1-3 years before pulling the cork.

Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Cartology 2019 – Chris Alheit Releases Another Prodigious Edition of His Old Vine Chenin Blanc Global Brand…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

After the difficulties of the 2018 harvest, the fourth drought influenced vintage in a row, that produced small quantities of very high-quality wines, 2019 arrived after a winter with better rains and beckoned a vintage with heathier yields and higher volumes. While Chris waivered briefly a few years ago on the long-term future of the Cartology brand, a subsequent broader rejigging of some of the exceptional old vineyards that used to go into this wine ultimately led to a complete shake up of the range, and most importantly, the acquisition of the Nuwedam farm in the Swartland, the Paardeberg source of the Fire By Night brand, now renamed Broom Ridge.

But the Cartology Chenin Blanc based blend luckily remains central to the Alheit Family Wines long term plans. While it’s unclear how large volumes might grow one day, this wine remains one of the greatest success stories to emerge from the “New South Africa” and its winelands.

Alheit Family Wines Cartology 2019, WO Western Cape, 13% abv.

The 2019 expression of Chris Alheit’s sought-after megabrand is a blend of 90% Chenin Blanc and 10% Semillon (from La Colline) and stands as the benchmark reference point for his whole winemaking range and philosophy. Always normally requiring a bit of extra time in bottle to show at its expressive best, this delicious 2019 already reveals a wonderful balance and precision, focus and textural attention to detail. The aromatics are loaded with the now unmistakable Chenin Blanc notes of yellow orchard fruits, white peach, tangerines, wet thatch and orange peel zest with complexing waxy, honeycomb nuances. Cool, seamless and wonderfully balanced, the palate shows a lovely vein of tangy acidity that really brings the fruit flavours to life. Plush, concentrated and impressively glycerol already, this Cartology is showy and seductive but contains all the requisite stuffing required for 15+ years of ageing.

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