South Africa 2024 Special Report by Tim Atkin MW

In wine ratings, who you ascribe to really is a case between you and God.

And while we are not here to tell you what to drink, we can give you the tools to form an informed opinion and, with time, start drinking UP. As in discovering ever better, esoteric, proudly Cape wine.

While there are many wine competitions and rating agents to choose from (if you're looking for an opinion) - British author, journalist, and wine critic Tim Atkin MW just brought out his 12th Special South Africa Report.

In it, he rated 2259 wines from 427 wineries, over a month-and-a-half, travelling the Cape Winelands, and has produced a 332-page tome detailing his ten key findings on South African wine, what he deems the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth Growth and Cru Bourgeois of the Cape Winelands, and all the tasting notes of the wines rated 90+ points—one of the most complete Reports produced yearly by an individual taster.

With one 100-point wine, three 99-point wines, and thirteen 98-point wines only covering the tip of the proverbial iceberg, best buy the report for the full story. You can scroll down for the highlights here.

- Daléne Fourie, News24 Wine Editor

Get the full report here

^{"We are working to create a better wine world. If you want that world to happen, you have to take part ownership of it. You have to say okay, I am willing to pay a premium for wines that are farmed sustainably, that are from old vines. Where people are investing in the future of their labour and community. Where we're keeping people on the land. It is part of the consumer's responsibility. It's not just saying, hey farmer, you should pay your people more. If you want that world to exist, that's what wine costs."}

^{Tim Atkin}

Callie Louw is an unassuming man, the best kind. More at home on a tractor than anywhere else. He farms for Boekenhoutskloof in the Swartland on various farms and, since 2010, has been keeping back a bit of Syrah from some of the best parcels to make Porseleinberg, an ode to the Place of the Shiny Rocks (in reference to the Schist-based soils of the Swartland). From the 2010 maiden vintage of only 3000 bottles to now, Porseleinberg Syrah has become a benchmark South African wine, as attested to by its myriad international accolades– also one of Tim Atkin MW's previous 100-point wines.

Callie custom labels each bottle by hand, using his vintage Heidelberg Platen Press Model T and adding the name or logo of each one of his customers onto every back label. Sales are done by allocation only, the only requirement being that you visit Callie and Porseleinberg to seal the deal. Therefore, this latest vintage will be sold out already and available via a variety of retailers like Wine Cellar, Great Domaines, The Wine Kollective, Rueda Wine Consulting, Port2Port, etc. Jealously guarded, mind you, making every purchase a conquest of sorts.

Callie also runs a catering business with his wife, consisting of a smoker he built and welded himself, like the submerged cap device he built to ensure optimal extraction on the Syrah. A man of many talents and few words, one of our finest.

If you want to get into the thick of things, email Callie direct at callie@porseleinberg.com

Stephanie Wiid is a Swiftie, mother of three, winemaker, wife, lover of Portuguese varieties in the Cape, and a ceramicist. (In no particular order) *She says it's also a form of therapy. Her duwweltjie-inspired spittoon in their recently opened tasting room space on the farm Leef op Hoop in the Jonkershoek Valley suggests a breakthrough of sorts.

I first met Stephanie Wiid (pronounced Wied) in 2019. She had just had their first child and treated me to a car bar situation in the Duwweltjie vineyard in Paarl, nanny and baby ensconced in the air-conditioning of her sedan car.

I remember thinking as she took out Gabriel glasses and chilled wines from the boot: Now here's a woman. She had worked under Charles Back at Fairview for 11 years making white wines and was offered a front-row seat to the mechanics of one of SA's legendary wine entrepreneurs.

The fact that her grandfather was Niel Joubert of Spier and one of the founders of the Stellenbosch Wine Route doesn't hurt either. She had studied at the University of Stellenbosch (with a Masters in Viticulture on Petit Syrah) and met Etienne Terblanche there (while completing a PhD in Viticulture on Pinotage) via their tasting group, Die Kurktrekkers (The Corkscrews) today Vinpro's viticulturist to the stars and fellow Thistle & Weed founder.

Etienne worked for Delheim for over 10 years, and thus, they share a commercial cellar background, insider knowledge, and a network of just where the best parcels are planted. Together, they and their respective spouses started Thistle & Weed in 2016, a family affair, to be sure.

Read more here

And shop their wines direct here.

Platter's Editor's Choice Winery of the Year 2024, the Bosman Family has been vine growers in Wellington for eight generations. In 1957, they focused their business exclusively on becoming a vine nursery and propagating cuttings for the Cape Wine Industry (probably where the viticultural prowess comes in). They returned to winemaking in 2007, with 8th-generation Petrus Bosman making wine in their newly renovated 270-year-old cellar.

For more information on the winery and its wines, visit their website here.

Perdeberg Cellar was born in 1942 when Paardeberg producers grew dissatisfied with the low prices they were getting for their premium-quality grapes. In 2021, they celebrated 80 years of operation and today represent 3000 ha of vineyards in the Agter-Paarl area, famous for its top Chenin Blanc Production.

For more information on this Producer Cellar and its wines, visit their website here.

Günter Brözel turned 90 this year. A legendary winemaker, he was the cellarmaster at Nederburg from 1956 to 1989 and played a leading role in building the winery's reputation as the most awarded in South Africa.

A maven and a maverick, he is known for his exceptionally high standards. Getting around on a 250cc BSA motorcycle, he checked on everyone and everything to ensure his exacting demands were met.

In 1985, he became the first South African to earn the International Wine and Spirit Competition Winemaker of the Year Award. He was a great pioneer and created the first South African noble late-harvest wine, Edelkeur, which was launched at the first Nederburg Auction in 1975 and is sold exclusively through this channel to this day. He is an icon in South African winemaking.

Read Fiona McDonald's story on the German Influence in Cape Wine here.

"You don't need to know anything to know what you like." – Louis Strydom.

Strange right? That one should have such a visceral reaction to some things without real context. Just knowing your instinctual preference is divine, almost.

Louis Strydom says that's what he told Ernie Els when trying to find an identity for the eponymously named wines.

Coming from the North, Ernie, naturally more of a brandy and coke kind of guy, pleaded ignorance when faced with the task.

Louis then set five wines in front of him, each made up of different red wine blends from the Helderberg, and Ernie promptly selected the Bordeaux-style wine that was to become the Ernie Els Signature: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 5% each of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.

Score: 100 points

I was fortunate to taste this wine twice over a period of a few days, and it really is a world-class Chenin Blanc. In fact, this is only the second time I've given 100 points to a Cape white. First made as recently as 2017, although it comes from a parcel on the Rustenhof farm that was planted close to False Bay in 1978, it's a wine that takes South Africa to new heights. Alas, only 50% of normal volumes, but this is all kelp, petrichor and sea breezes, with incredible extract, a note of umami and a dense, refreshing, mineral-rich finish. 2025-35

- Tim Atkin

From what we can tell, it's all but sold out! Visit their website for more information here.

Score: 99 points

Sadie Family Columella 2022

This is the lightest-bodied Columella ever, according to Eben Sadie, but he's not lost any concentration or intensity at the lower alcohol level. Sourced from 12 different vineyards, seven of which are on the Paardeberg, this features components from slate, gravel, granite and sandstone soils and is a brilliant vintage of one of the world's greatest reds. Partnering Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault, Tinta Barocca and Pinotage, this is an almost indecently perfumed cuvée with lilac, fynbos and rose petal aromas, plum, red cherry and blackberry fruit, subtle 5% new wood and a focused, grippy, stony finish. Wonderful stuff. 2025-40

- Tim Atkin

Score: 100 points

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Score: 92 points