Our favourite South African wines
We pick out our five favourite bottles, both red and white, from South Africa. Have you any others to recommend?
Chamonix Chardonnay
Bright straw yellow in colour, with a velvety texture and super balance between richness and delicacy. You might detect everything from grapefruit to oatmeal, caramel and nutmeg. It’s made from 24-year-old vines, and is fermented/matured for 11 months in French Allier oak.
Our Matt has given it a taste, and gave this review: “Melony overtones with sharp acid notes of citrus, balanced by a refreshingly sweet and tropical fruity aftertaste. Would pair well with a light seafood or a chicken dish.”
Origin: Franschhoek
Best price we could find: £12 online from WineTrust100
Indaba Chardonnay
A hearty 100% Chardonnay, slightly oaked with soft and rounded flavours. It doesn’t have a particularly strong finish, which makes it a perfect wine for a multitude of foods, but especially creamy pasta dishes.
‘Indaba’ is the Zulu word for ‘a meeting of minds’ and this brand of wine was created as a celebration of the democratisation process in South Africa, and aims above all for value for money. It's bound to be liked by almost any drinker.
Origin: Stellenbosch, Swartland and Robertson
Best price we could find: £9.50 online from WineTrust100
Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc
A particularly dry Chenin Blanc, with dried apricot and vanilla flavourings. Nice eaten with a seafood risotto or white meat. It’s far more powerful than your average lemony Chenin Blanc, and has a honeyed, creamy texture.
It’s matured for a year in used French oak barrels, and you might detect green apple in there too. This wine is from 35-year-old vineyards on the Helderberg Mountain in the heart of the Stellenbosch region.
Origin: Stellenbosch
Best price we could find: £11 online from WineTrust100 (you can also get it from Morrisons)
Sequillo (red)
Sequillo Cellars is committed to ‘producing wines with a strong regional identity’ and as a result belongs to The Swartland Independent (Swartland is a hot, arid area north east of Cape Town). It’s a pricey bottle, but worth it if you’re out to impress.
This red wine has a clear, spicy and herbal flavour, with a fresh red fruit aroma. An office colleague, Ellen, recently tried a bottle with a roast lamb dinner. “The aroma and first impression was one of blackberries and cherries, which turned into an unexpected spicy finish," she says. "It was easy to drink – not full enough to overpower our meal, but strong enough to stand up to all the flavours of the lamb.”
Origin: Swartland
Best price we could find: £17 online from WineTrust100 (it’s also available to buy from Fortnum & Mason)
Chakalaka (red)
Spice Route, who make Chakalaka, are known for their robust spicy red wines, rich in character. This wine is a jumble of grape varieties, making it a lively drink full of peppery notes. It won a gold medal and trophy in the 2012 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Victoria, another office colleague, includes Chakalaka among her favourite red wines. Here’s her review: “Fruity, smooth, with a great spicy edge. It goes extraordinarily well with my beef stew, because it can bring out the spice in anything. It tastes slightly oaked and I imagine would go wonderfully with any red meat dish.”
Origin: Swartland
Best price we could find: £12 online from WineTrust100 (you can also buy it ‘per case’ from Tesco Wine)
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