Opinion & Analysis

SA’s food and wine culture assessed

By Christian Eedes , 23 November 2022

Do this year’s Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards, back after a two-year interruption caused by Coronavirus, “favour bling over elegance” as one observer put it...

3

Where are alcohol levels headed?

By Christian Eedes , 8 November 2022

To mark the launch of the 2018 vintage of Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon from Nederburg, the label’s current red winemaker Zinaschke Steyn presented a...

Time to have that conversation about wine scores again

By Christian Eedes , 26 October 2022

At lunch the other day, I had some notable samples of wine open and our oldest daughter Zoë, who is aged 13 in Grade Seven,...

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Letter to the editor: Saving old vineyards and reducing barriers to entry into the wine industry

By Christian Eedes , 17 October 2022

The following received via email from Anthony Hamilton Russell, proprietor of Hemel-en-Aarde Valley property Hamilton Russell Vineyards:Sometimes a simple idea, new or not, followed by...

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Ageing potential – the final frontier for modern-era SA wine

By Christian Eedes , 4 October 2022

It is curious, at least to me, that while South Africa’s best modern-era wines are rightfully praised for their striking intensity and complexity, their age-worthiness...

2

Fruit power isn’t going away any time soon

By Christian Eedes , 21 September 2022

The wine market is not monolithic and while wine geeks might be enjoying a paler, lighter, fresher style of red wine, there’s still a segment...

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Swipe right – what must SA wine do to get the world to love it?

By Christian Eedes , 5 September 2022

The theme for this year’s Cape Wine, the flagship business showcase of the South African wine industry presented by generic export body Wines of South...

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Hemel-en-Aarde Pinot Noir – the state of play

By Christian Eedes , 22 August 2022

In the May 2000 issue of Wine magazine, the late Tony Mossop CWM reporting on that year’s panel tasting of Pinot Noir, wrote: “The perfect...

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Scoring is boring but necessary

By Christian Eedes , 20 July 2022

The 2021 vintage of Skurfberg, the Chenin Blanc from Citrusdal Mountain that forms part of The Old Vine Series from Sadie Family Wines has an...

2

Prescient briefing: The art of blending

By Christian Eedes , 8 June 2022

In the wine world, it has become commonplace to blend complementary wine varietals to create a new wine with different characteristics. In Prescient’s world, the...