Tag Archives: Saronsberg

Saronsberg Full Circle has not come full circle in 10 years, getting better and better!

Saronberg Bottles Whale CottageLast week a number of writers was invited to a ten-year vertical tasting of Saronsberg Full Circle, the wine estate’s flagship brand, followed by lunch at the Cape Grace.  While the reason for the choice of name is not known, the wine is likely to not come full circle, getting better and better with every vintage.

Winemaker Dewaldt Heyns has a wonderful ability to explain his wines, speaking with passion but without technicalities, remembering the Saronsberg Dewaldt Heyns Whale Cottagepeculiarities of each of the ten vintages which we tasted, without a note to refer to.  The tasting was held in the recently refurbished Leeward Room, adjacent to the Signal restaurant and facing the refurbished pool area. During the tasting the glass sliding doors were closed when the pool chlorine could be smelt inside the venue.  We were spread over four round tables, with chairs with unusual modern upholstery in black, grey, white and burgundy, in contrast to the green velvety drapes.  I Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24/25/26 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Sharing services such as Uber and Airbnb are coming under pressure to comply with laws of running their businesses and paying taxes, some countries reacting strictly, and others welcoming their input to the expansion of the economy. Uber was banned in Germany for a while, but has been allowed to operate again.  Airbnb has picked up problems in Barcelona for breaching the city’s rental rules.   A number of court cases in the USA alone relate to payment of gratuities to drivers, advertised as being included in the price, but drivers do not appear to be receiving their full gratuities.

*   The World’s 50 Best Restaurants has moved its presentation date to Monday 1 June 2015, having hosted the awards at the end of April for the past twelve years.  The awards recognise the best restaurants in the world.  In 2014 only The Test Kitchen made the prestigious top 50 list.  (received via media release from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, forwarded by Tamsin Snyman)

*   Saronsberg has relaunched its Provenance range with a new label, depicting the ‘From Earth, From Water‘ sculpture by Angus Continue reading →

Veritas Awards: KWV, Spier, and Nederburg lead the ‘Oscars of the SA wine industry’!

Veritas Wine top achieversKWV, Spier, and Nederburg are our country’s top three wine estates based on the number of Double Gold and Gold Awards they received at the 2014 Veritas Awards Gala Dinner at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Saturday evening, making up almost half the 51 Double Gold awards. The Veritas Awards are viewed as the ‘Oscars of the South African wine industry‘, with close to 1800 wines entered, a slight decrease on the number of 2013 entries.

KWV was announced as the Best Wine Producer for the fourth year running, and increased its Double Gold awards from four last year to seven this year.  KWV also won 2 Double Golds for its Brandy.  Spier has greatly enhanced its Veritas performance, with 7 Double Gold awards, compared to only one last year. Nederburg increased its Double Gold tally from four last year to six.  Flagstone won Best Performer in the less than 10 wines entered category, and the KWV won in the 11+ wines entered category.

Four wine industry legends Danie de Wet of De Wetshof, Diaan de Villiers, Professor Diko van Zyl (author of historical works on Continue reading →

Saronsberg celebrates 10 years of its excellent Shiraz, soul of the grape!

Saronsberg Banner Whale CottageI was sorry to miss the vertical tasting of ten vintages of Saronsberg Shiraz at Auslese last week, not being able to attend earlier in the day due to a work commitment.  I was however able to taste two of the vintages with the lunch prepared by Aubergine Chef Harald Bresselschmidt.

Saronsberg has been very low-key in the past ten years in terms of its media coverage, and only recently commenced with a PR campaign via Waterford Communications.  Its Shiraz has been regarded as one of this country’s best, and has won a 5 star Platter rating for its 2010 and 2011 vintages.  Other  awards which the Shiraz has won include double gold at the Veritas Awards, Gold at Michelangelo International Wine Awards, Gold at Syrah du Monde, the Red Wine Trophy at the Winemakers’ Choice awards, Gold and trophies at the Decanter Asia awards, and the South African Shiraz Trophy at the International WineSaronsberg Bottles Whale Cottage Challenge.  Winemaker Dewaldt Heyns has been building the Saronsberg wine brand since owner Nick van Huyssteen bought the farm in Tulbagh in 2012, the year in which he joined Saronsberg.  Half of the farm is planted with Shiraz, due to the good quality red wines made in the region.  Dewaldt’s expertise in making the Saronsberg wines led to him being invited to become a member of the Cape Winemakers’ Guild, an association of top winemakers for which membership is by invitation only.  Just a few days ago wine writer Tim James included Dewaldt in a list of 12 top winemakers of our country! Continue reading →