If you think Backsberg is synonymous with quality, Pumphouse and Paarl, you’d be right… and also slightly behind the times. In 2006 already, Backsberg became the first winery in South Africa, and only the third worldwide, to be 100% carbon neutral. In addition to that, they also enjoys “champion” status within the BWI.  (biodiversity and [...]

If you like the WineCountry Blog, or you like me, then nominate this blog please. Simple really…

Disgraced winner, Duncan Savage from Cape Point Vineyards obviously had no such joy with his winning white blend, the Isliedh 2006. Despite beating around the bush at first about his stock levels, he soon revealed the dire nature of his situation and disclosed the truth. Who drank all his wine?

The annual Veritas Wine Awards have come and gone without as much as a squeak from any one of the Paarl wineries. The silence was so deafening that I actually had to visit the Veritas website to scope the medal winners.

Screeching round the corner into the CTICC driveway at 7pm (it was a 6:30 for 7pm start), I drove round to parking area 2. Driving towards the parking garage, my heart dropped on seeing that the height limit was 2,0 metres. Let’s just say that my Landy is 2,1m.

It presents the chicken or egg theory. Do we not drink Paarl wines because local wineries don’t market their wines effectively? Or do wineries not market their wines locally because we choose to drink something else?

As a region Paarl also walked away with its fair share of gongs, and I have listed trophies, double golds and golds below.

World Wine Awards Chairman Steven Spurrier said “winning a silver medal in the Decanter World Wine Awards is the equivalent of winning a gold from other competitions.”

The Merlot showed award-winning potential even before the completion of fermentation with its “audacious berry flavours and well-balanced tannin structure.”

The Roland’s Reserve Syrah 2006 is a result of choice vineyard selection, painstaking vineyard management, hand-picking, meticulous berry sorting and barrel selection.