Wines from four of Cape Legends’ estates – Neethlingshof, Stellenzicht, Lomond and Le Bonheur – achieved scores of 90 and higher in the latest report of the International Wine Review on South African wine. The web-based International Wine Review is widely rated as one of the world’s most influential opinion formers on wine.
Don Winkler, the editor, and publisher Mike Potashnik, visited South Africa at the end of last year to update their report on local wines in the premium and ultra-premium categories which retail above $15 in the US. They tasted some 750 wines over a two-week period and concluded that South Africa was “today producing some of the finest wines in the world”.
The best performer amongst the four, by the narrowest of margins, was Neethlinghof. All three wines in the estate’s top tier, known collectively as the Short Story Collection, received scores of over 90 points out of a possible 100. The wines to achieve this distinction are The Maria of 2011, a noble late harvest wine predominantly from Weisser Riesling grapes scoring 92; The Caracal of 2009, the estate’s highly-rated Bordeaux blend with 91, and The Owl Post 2010, a single-vineyard Pinotage which also came in at 91.
Stellenzicht also had three wines with scores of 90 and over. They are the 2006 Rhapsody, a blend of 50% Syrah and 50% Pinotage, which garnered 92 points; the 2009 Golden Triangle Pinotage awarded 91; and the 2009 Semillon Reserve which received 90+.
Two of the Lomond wines, both single-vineyard ones, are also in the top echelon, the 2010 Sugarbush Sauvignon Blanc (91 points) and the 2007 Pincushion Sauvignon Blanc (90). Le Bonheur has one – the 2009 Tricorne Reserve, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cabernet Franc, which scored 91 while a second wine, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, missed 90 points by a hair’s breadth with 89+.
DATE 12 MARCH 2012
ISSUED BY DKC (DE KOCK COMMUNICATIONS)
FOR CAPE LEGENDS
QUERIES LIZE-MARIE GRADWELL, CAPE LEGENDS, 021 809 7000
MARLISE POTGIETER/LOUISE DE KOCK, DKC, 021 422 2690
Kind regards
Marlise Potgieter
De Kock Communications (DKC)
Tel: +27 21 422 2690
Fax/Faks: +27 86 610 5388
Cell/Sel: +27 72 562 5307
E-mail/E-pos: marlise@dkc.co.za
