Meerlust – Visit to this African Icon
When I first found out that I was going to South Africa, Meerlust was one of the first names down on my wish list of places to visit. And I wasn’t disappointed. Based just outside Stellenbosch, the estate has been in the Myburgh family’s hands since 1756 – so much for ‘New World’, and has
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South African wines in the press
South African wine farms have taken something of a hammering in today’s Telegraph with claims that ‘South Africa’s vineyards treat workers like slaves’. Note that is not ‘Some’ that is a generic quotation tainting all of South Africa’s wine farms. The article hides behind a recent report by ‘Human Rights Watch’ and basically just paraphrases
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Visiting Spice Route
On my recent trip to South Africa we stopped by the Spice Route Winery where we were met by winemaker Charl du Plessis… The winery, in the up and coming region of Swartland is owned by one of the Cape’s wine growing aristocracy in Charles Back who’s main property is Fairview in Paarl. This was
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South African Retrospective
I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting on my recent trip to South Africa, but as someone who had never been outside Europe I was a little apprehensive about going half way around the world, but I really needn’t have worried. What I found was a country of unbelievable beauty, who’s people are incredibly
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Day three in the Cape
Today we headed off to an region that is relatively new on the UK wine map to Swartland, a region of iron rich clay and schist soils that is fast becoming on of the worlds most exciting wine regions. Here Rhone varieties do well, but as we discovered that isn’t all there is to it.
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Day two in the Cape
Day two started very fast, I woke up at 8.20 knowing the our guide Gert was picking us up at 8.30. Still I had time for a shower, shave, pack and out before 8.35 which I thought was pretty good! First we went off to Klein Constantia where winemaker Adam Mason showed us the estate
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Arrival in Cape Town
After a long flight Toby and I have arrived in Cape Town for a week of wine tasting, experiencing South Africa and trying to get to grips with what is good as well as meeting some of our brilliant suppliers. Today has we’ve spend our day in Cape Town after arriving at out hotel around
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South African Promotion
Pop into our stores during this month and you can find some great deals on wines from South Africa. Whilst the prices of wines from many countries has crept up in recent times as a result of the relative strength of the Euro, and US, Australian and New Zealand Dollars, the price of South African
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Warwick Estate
Warwick Estate was bought by the Ratcliffe family in 1964 who soon started planting Cabernet Sauvignon vines yielding high quality grapes which were sold to neighbouring estates. However it was not until 1984 that the first wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon, was released under the Warwick Estate label whilst 1986 saw the first release of the
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New World Icon Series 2
With a history dating back to 1682 Rustenberg could get a little upset as being labelled a “New World” wine producer. Originally German immigrants made wines here but in 1941 Peter and Pamela Barlow bought the estate with their son Simon, the current proprietor, taking over the reigns in 1987. However, Rustenberg is more than
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