Cheap wine is great and I’m all for it, but sometimes you feel the need for something a bit better in your glass.
These are all still amazing value for the quality of wine, but for most of us, these will be the special Sunday braai wine rather than an ‘end of everyday’ glugger.
Muratie Isabella Chardonnay 2012 R95 cellar door
A beautiful name for a beautiful wine. This is named for Isabella Melck whose drawing adorns the farm’s entry level great value red wine.
It’s a serious Chardonnay with beautiful supportive oak wrapping up the creamy yellow fruit and fleshing out the freshening acidity to perfection.
Would be a great partner for a snoek braai.
Bosman Family Vineyards Adama White 2012 R100 cellar door
A wonderful, fabulous Cape White Blend, this is mainly Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc with some interesting tweaks of Viognier, Pinot Gris and Semillon on the side.
It’s a lavish, opulent wine which never teeters over into becoming overblown and OTT because of the elegant limey acidity, running right through the wine and effortlessly holding all the components together.
Ripe pineapples, spicy peaches, zesty citrus fruit. Delicious.
Nitida Coronata Integration 2012 R115 cellar door
Platter 5 Stars second year on the trot for this lovely Bordeaux white blend from Durbanville cellar, Nitida.
Mainly Sauvignon Blanc with 40% of the Semillon component having undergone some time in oak, it’s a subtle wine, full of secret, exotic promises and whispers of intrigue, passion and spice.
I also love the fact that it’s almost 2 years old – in these times when people are already expecting to be drinking 2014 Sauvvies, it’s good to prove that quality and class never date.