2012 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10

The 20 finalists are drawn from a wide array of producing areas (Cape Agulhas, Breedekloof, Cederberg, Darling, Durbanville, Elgin, Langeberg-Garcia, Stellenbosch and Tulbagh are all represented one way or another) and the line-up of producers includes both those with well-established reputations for making high quality Sauvignon Blanc and relative newcomers.  12 of the wines came from the 2012 vintage, seven from 2011 and one from 2010.

Clos Malverne 2011
Clos Malverne 2012
D'Aria The Songbird 2011
De Morgenzon DMZ 2012
Diemersdal MM Louw 2011
Driehoek 2012
Du Toitskloof 2012
Durbanville Hills Biesjes Craal 2012
Ernst Gouws & Co 2012
Groote Post 2012
Lomond Pincushion 2011
Lomond Sugarbush 2010
Nederburg The Young Airhawk 2011
Neethlingshof Single Vineyard 2012
Paul Cluver 2011
Saronsberg Provenance 2012
Simonsig Sunbird 2012
Spice Route 2012
Stark-Condé Pepin Condé 2011
Virgin Earth Pepper Tree 2012

The wines which placed in the Top 10 will be made public on Thursday 13 September.

Auction Season

The annual Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG) wine auction will be held at Spier on Saturday 6 October. Wine enthusiasts can taste the auction wines at the CTICC in Cape Town at 18h00 on Thursday, 23 August and at 18h00 at The Atrium, Nedbank Sandton in Johannesburg on Thursday, 30 August. Tickets cost R170 and are available from www.WebTickets.co.za.

 

 

Two members of the Guild make their Auction debut this year: Gottfried Mocke, with his Chamonix Chardonnay Auction Reserve 2011 and Miles Mossop with his Tokara Auction Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010.

The new varietals on offer this year include a Cinsault from Adi Badenhorst, AA Badenhorst Family Wines Shatoe Ramnasgras 2011, on offer in the regular 750 ml and a magnum, and the John Loubser Garibaldi Nebbiolo 2009. Other interesting blends include the Graham Beck The Catalyst Shiraz Viognier 2010 and the Luddite Oscar Shiraz Mourvédre 2009. The only Port-style wine  is the Carel Nel Cape Vintage Auction Reserve 2010.

The full list

750ml unless otherwise indicated

AA Badenhorst Family Wines Shatoe Ramnasgras 2011

AA Badenhorst Family Wines Shatoe Ramnasgras 2011 (magnums)         

Ataraxia Under the Gavel Chardonnay 2011    

Beyerskloof Traildust Pinotage 2010    

Boschkloof Bakhand Shiraz 2010        

Bouchard Finlayson Pinot Noir 2009   

Cape Point Vineyards Auction Reserve White 2011     

Carel Nel Cape Vintage Auction Reserve 2010

Cederberg Ghost Corner Semillon 2011          

Cederberg Teen Die Hoog Shiraz 2010           

Chamonix Chardonnay Auction Reserve 2011 

De Grendel Amandelboord Sauvignon Blanc 2012       

De Grendel Op Die Berg Pinot Noir 2010       

De Trafford Perspective 2009  

De Trafford Syrah 2009          

Edgebaston Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2010 (magnums)

Ernie Els CWG 2010   

Etienne Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Auction Reserve 2009   

Graham Beck Non Plus Ultra Cap Classique 2008       

Graham Beck The Catalyst Shiraz Viognier 2010         

Grangehurst Cabernet Sauvignon Auction Reserve 2006          

Groot Constantia CWG Shiraz 2009    

Hartenberg Estate Auction Shiraz 2009

Hartenberg Loam Hill Merlot 2009      

Haskell The Expatriate 2010    

Haskell Paradigm 2008

John Loubser Garibaldi Nebbiolo 2009

Jordan Chardonnay Auction Reserve 2011      

Jordan Sophia 2009    

Kaapzicht Cape Blend 2009    

Kanonkop CWG Paul Sauer 2007      

Kanonkop CWG Paul Sauer 2009      

Kanonkop CWG Pinotage 2010          

Kleine Zalze Granite Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2009         

Louis Laika 2010        

Luddite "Oscar" Shiraz Mourvédre 2009          

Luddite "The Reserve" Shiraz 2008      

Neil Ellis Auction Reserve 2007           

Overgaauw DC Classic 2009  

Paul Cluver Pinot Noir 2010    

Paul Cluver The Wagon Trail Chardonnay 2010           

Rijk's CWG Chenin Blanc 2011          

Rijk's CWG Pinotage 2010     

Rust en Vrede Cabernet Sauvignon 2009         

Saronsberg CWG Semillon 2008         

Simonsig Cuvée Chêne Blanc de Blancs MCC 2007    

Simonsig Estate Heirloom Shiraz 2010 

Spier Merlot 2009       

Spier Pinotage 2009    

Teddy Hall Eva (Krotoa) Muscat de Frontignan 2009 Noble Late Harvest       

Teddy Hall Hendrik Biebouw Auction Reserve Chenin Blanc 2011 (375ml)      

Tokara Auction Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010      

Waterford Estate Auction Reserve BB 2009

King Cabernet and Seductress Shiraz

This one written for wine.co.za

Cabernet may be king but the throne is faux and the real power lies with the seductress Shiraz. Cabernet is regarded as one of the great interlopers of indigenous and new vineyards worldwide, and is a chance crossing between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc - a bastard, one might say. But like all bastards, Cabernet can be as suave and sophisticated as any blue-blood, with no compunction about pretending to be king, or even Elvis.

Shiraz, cast for so long as a Persian belly dancer, actually has a more noble - and now fashionable - lineage. Unlike relative newcomer Cabernet in Bordeaux, Shiraz has reigned in the Rhone since Roman times and DNA profiling reveals it as progeny of Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche in southeast France. Shiraz is now estimated to be at least the world's fifth most planted grape.

Cabernet's conqueror reputation is yet another pretence, for while he strode far and wide, he ruled neither his conquests nor his backyard with any real authority. As one Australian winemaker puts it "Bordeaux's greatest coup was in convincing the rest of the world that the great red Bordeaux is pure Cabernet".

For the rest click here

To Stir or to Shake

(my take on Martinis for Playboy's Bond edition)

Think cocktails, and Martinis appear – quickly, with James Bond not far behind, but one man's perfect Martini is another man's Molotov cocktail. How much vermouth, how much gin? Bond’s preference for shaken not stirred suggests a mix but with the driest of Martinis, the glass is rinsed with vermouth – the rest is gin. Could Bond have liked his martinis sweet, even wimpy?

Bond's Vesper Martini (with a twist)

 Throughout the 22 James Bond movies, numerous cocktails, Champagnes and beers have made an appearance. Reports are that the new bond film – “Skyfall” – will set new records for product placement. So, is Bond a heavily disguised brand ambassador with a taste for wimpy martinis? As long as he gets to kill, maim and fornicate, Joe Public doesn’t seem to care.

It does look like Skyfall is going to be a windfall for Bond. On this occasion he is going to be drinking Heineken, or Heinie as some Americans say. Now with all due respect to the beer and Bond’s usual preference, I would imagine that Bond did not accept a mere six pack of Heinie in return (rumoured to be $40m).

It’s been a lot easier for some South African wine producers. American Jeffrey Deaver enjoys the Cape winelands and he – as author of Carte Blanche - has Bond sipping on Rustenberg’s Peter Barlow 2005 and Cuvée Clive, Graham Beck’s Grand Marques bubbly.