Here at Drinkingwine.co.za we normally celebrate the lighter side of wine related matters. When Raka was getting us sufficiently intoxicated to up there sales, we were there. When we made #10 on the illustrious winetimes.co.za top ten list, we celebrated. When our international correspondent was in exile in New Zealand, chronicling his wine [...]

Those that frequent our cosy establishment in Harfield Village, Cape Town will know that there is usually a reasonable red on offer. Because I tend to go through “phases” of wine, I often stock a large amount of the same wine over a particular period and then move on. This stock has become known as [...]

I recently attended a wine tasting by someone who has become somewhat of an institution on the East London wine scene. The man in question spent 38 years at sea and is routinely visited by both the Department of Health and Safety, and the Department of Labor. He admits to owning an entire valley en [...]

Drinkingwine.co.za has just been placed in the prestigious winetimes.co.za top 10 South African independent wine bloggers survey. One must remember that it has been over a year since our last blog entry, (I had to check that fact) one must also admit that our content is not exactly 100% factually sound. With this in mind, [...]

I put on my clean South African Rugby jersey on Sunday and went to do some food shopping for the week ahead. The cheapest bottle I could find was a Shiraz Cabernet 2008 Reserve for 12 NZ dollars.

Before thinking of jumping off the cliff, do try ‘White Cliff.’ It’s a fruit driven Merlot (2008) which is a full flavoured easy drinking wine with hints of plum and red berry fruits, which permeate the palate with remarkable success.

It has come to my attention that when buying wine in this country, there are no guarantees when it comes to pricing or availability. They way that I see it is that there are three ways to buy wine is this country. The modernist approach is to hunt for bargains online and to this end [...]

The thing about New Zealand is that you get paid every two weeks, or every fortnight as they call it here. Being pay day, Harriet and I went beyond the 10 dollar mark, yip, feeling wealthy and bold, we bought a bottle for 10.99 NZD. Living on the edge can have its rewards and surprises… [...]

Donovan and I have had this discussion many times, and the answer is always the same. Once we have taken into consideration taste, smoothness, innovation, a certain distinctness, price and most importantly simply what we like. Our desert island, all time favourite wine is still the Tokara Zondernaam Shiraz.

I have on more than one occasion described my home town of East London as deepest, darkest Africa. This may sound like I am unhappy, but East London is in fact a very agreeable place to live. East London is one of those places that if you simply passed through it you would most likely [...]

It has been an embarrassingly long time since I wrote for this fine blog. I have been suffering from what literary notorieties would call a drought, fortunately in wine terms, I have been suffering from anything but a drought.

So here we are with a new year upon us. One of recession and gloom as world markets creep southwards. Fortunately, there have been very few retrenchments on wine farms and this stands to reason. No matter how tough things get, one will always appreciate a fine wine. Sometimes even more so when times are [...]

The process of wine creation is an interesting one with grapes being coverted into a wonderful alcoholic beverage by fermenting a yeast extract with the sugars in the grape juice to create ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and carbon dioxide.

Let me say this from the outset, the Kanonkop Kadette is one of my favorite wines! On a visit to the wine estate, an exceedingly haughty employee told us simply, you can drink the Kadette with any food. As much as we disliked this particular women, the way she looked us over, the way she [...]

Its easy to come across those wines that lend themselves to everyday drinking but what about the wines that you would never consider buying yourself and therefore don’t get the opportunity to taste?

There has been a lot of talk about everyday wines on the blog. Wines that are good to enjoy daily, wines that you should always have in your cellar to break out at a moments notice when the neighbors arrive. These are wines that are not good enough for that special occasion, but good enough [...]

I’ve always seen the Alto Rouge as a bit of a lucky packet wine. Similar to Tassenburg in a way in the varsity days where you never knew quite what to expect while pulling out the cork. The Alto Rouge though always has the ability to surprise.

On a blissful spring Saturday afternoon in 2007 I found myself in an Ultra Liquor scouring the bargain bin for deals. I think the manager was going through a phase where he no longer actually wanted to stock wine, and virtually the entire wine range was on special. “Bargain”

I have arrived at the point where if I am invited to a corporate event with a cash bar, I simply decline. The situation has got so bad in fact that unless it is a sit down dinner, at a venue of significant standing, I simply don’t give it a second glance! However, when one [...]

This wine reminds me of watching a chick flick with your girlfriend. Pleasant enough but lacking something serious in order to make it a worthwhile experience. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad wine, its just that it battles to get going. After a glass or two though it becomes quite enjoyable and [...]

Well I discovered this bottle sporting a “Wine Magazine best value” award at the bottle store and decided to give it a go. Well I was very pleasantly surprised! Such a smooth texture with just the right balance of tannins made this guy VERY easy on the pallette!