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Wine

A to = Z of Cape=20 Wines
Wine of = the=20 Year
Five = Star=20 Wines
Highly=20 Recommended
Buy = now,=20 Drink later
Superquaffer= of=20 the Year
Grape = Varieties
Vintages = &=20 Styles
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Publisher
Andrew McDowall=20

Editor
Philip = van=20 Zyl

Record 41 five-star wines for 2010 = Platter=92s South=20 African Wine Guide

Echoing the stellar 2009 grape harvest, = Platter=92s=20 South African Wine Guide, the country=92s leading wine annual, has = produced its=20 own bumper crop in the form of a record 41 five-star wines. This follows = a blind=20 tasting by the assembled Platter=92s tasting team of potential five-star = wines for=20 the 2010 edition, nominated by individual members during their sampling = of South=20 Africa=92s wines over the past two months.

The guide strives to = taste,=20 rate and describe as many as possible South African-made wines available = locally=20 and overseas during the currency of the particular edition. For the 2010 = book,=20 nearly 6 000 individual wines are featured. Responsible for this mammoth = task is=20 an experienced team (supported by an equally large back-room staff), who = graded=20 the wines according to the guide's five-star scale, ranging from zero = ('Somewhat=20 less than ordinary') to five stars ('Superlative. A Cape = classic').

In=20 the course of this year's evaluations, a record 105 candidate five-stars = were=20 identified, across a variety of categories, including reds and whites, = dessert=20 wines and port styles. Only bottled wines, available during the currency = of the=20 guide, were considered.

Publisher Andrew McDowall extended=20 congratulations to all the five-star winegrowers, to the makers of the = balance=20 of the five-star contenders whose names will be unveiled with the book = launch in=20 November, and to those who produced the two Wines of the Year (this year = it was=20 decided to make awards for both a white and a red wine). The guide=92s = Winery of=20 the Year award will also be announced in November, along with the name = of the=20 'Superquaffer' of the Year - the wine judged to be the most drinkable = and=20 well-priced of all the entry-level bottlings tasted for the current = edition.=20

Analysing the results of the 2010 five-star wines, McDowall = said: =91The=20 best-performing categories this year were that of Sauvignon Blanc and=20 Bordeaux-style Red Blends, with five wines in each. Four categories = offered up=20 four five-star wines each =96 Bordeaux-Style White Blends, White Blends, = Shiraz=20 and Unfortified Dessert Wines =96 while the Port-Style category has = three=20 five-stars. Of the white categories, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay yielded = one and=20 three five-stars respectively, while Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and = Red=20 Blends offered two apiece, and Grenache and Pinotage one each. =

=91There=20 are several producers who featured more than once in the line-up this = year:=20 Boplaas Family Vineyards, Cape Point Vineyards, Distell =96 with = five-stars for=20 wines from its Fleur du Cap and Nederburg brands, and Sadie Family = Wines. In=20 addition to its five-stars in the Sauvignon Blanc and Bordeaux-Style Red = Blends=20 categories, retail chain Woolworths notched up two further five-stars, = giving a=20 total of four.

=91Heartiest congratulations must go to the two = wines that=20 were voted Wine of the Year by the judges: Palladius 2008 from Sadie = Family=20 Wines, our White Wine of the Year, and the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve = 2005 from=20 Le Riche Wines, the year=92s top red. Both Eben Sadie and Etienne le = Riche are=20 much admired, locally and abroad, for their commitment and passion, and = we are=20 delighted to recognise them and their teams in this manner,=92 said=20 McDowall.

A selection of the five-star wines will be shown to the = European wine trade and consumers at the South African Mega Tasting in = London=20 during October.

White Wine of the Year

Sadie Family Palladius 2008

Red Wine of the Year

Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005

Sauvignon = Blanc

Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc Unfiltered 2009=20
Lomond Pincushion Sauvignon Blanc 2009=20
Tokara Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2008=20
Woolworths Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Limited Release = 2009=20
Cape Point Vineyards CWG Auction Reserve Barrel Fermented = Sauvignon Blanc=20 2008

White blends =96 Bordeaux style

Woolworths Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Reserve 2009=20
Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2008=20
The Berrio Wines Weather Girl 2008=20
Vergelegen White 2008

Chenin Blanc

Beaumont Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc 2008

White = Blends=20

Nederburg Ingenuity White 2008=20
Rall 2008=20
Sadie Family Palladius 2008=20
Woolworths Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards Spectrum White Limited = Release=20 2008

Chardonnay

Ataraxia Chardonnay 2008=20
Chamonix Chardonnay Reserve 2008=20
Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2008

Pinot Noir

Newton Johnson Domaine Pinot Noir 2008=20

Catherine Marshall Pinot Noir 2008 Grenache

Neil Ellis Vineyard Selection Grenache 2007

Pinotage =

Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage 2007

Red Blends

Sadie Family Columella 2007=20
pier Frans K. Smit 2005

Shiraz

Dunstone Shiraz 2008=20
Haskell Vineyards Pillars Shiraz 2007=20
Rustenberg Stellenbosch Syrah 2007=20
Saxenburg Shiraz Select Limited Release 2005

Red = Blends =96=20 Bordeaux Style

De Trafford Perspective 2006=20
Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2006=20
Morgenster Estate Morgenster 2006=20
Stony Brook Ghost Gum 2006=20
Woolworths Jordan Cobblers Hill Classic 2005

Cabernet=20 Sauvignon=20

Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2007=20
Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005

Port

Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve Port 2007=20
De Krans Cape Tawny Port NV=20
Boplaas Cape Tawny Port 1997

Unfortified Dessert Wine =

Buitenverwachting 1769 2007=20
Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest 2008=20
Nederburg Winemaster's Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2008=20
Mullineux Family Straw Wine 2008

The Guide to Cellars, Vineyards, Winemakers, = Restaurants &=20 Accommodation

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