It is trade tasting time, and on 21 July 2026, Anri and Judy set off to enjoy the best of Meridian Wine Merchants' brands at the TimeOut Market at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. It was a very trendy, cool venue, and it was busy busy... From A-Z, they tasted through Anthonij Rupert Wyne to Zardetto.
Caroline's Red Wine Review is an event not to be missed! At this year's showcase on Thursday evening, 30 July 2026 at the Private Members Lounge at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, Anri and Judy were totally spoilt for choice, arriving to a Meerlust Rubicon, then a Vergelegen Estate Red and then Tokara Director's Reserve Red – not too shabby a start...
The Shiraz SA Challenge awards ceremony took place on 6 August 2026 at The Venue at Blacksmith's Estate in Paarl. It was a perfect chilly afternoon to taste through the top Shirazes for the year. Well done to Spier for receiving two awards for their Seaward 2024 and Creative Block 3 2022. Congrats also to Tertius Boshoff from Stellenrust, winning the prestigious Bellingham Podlashuk Trophy.
There are tastings, and then there are tastings. To be included in an exclusive group to taste through the 2015-2016 vintages of Telos, Tokara's flagship wine, at a tasting on 13 August 2026 at DUSK in Stellenbosch was truly a privilege for Judy. They were also treated to an incredible lunch, paired with some other older Tokara wines.
In the blink of an eye, wine.co.za has turned 30! On Friday, 28 September 2026, we had a lovely, relatively low-key birthday lunch at the temporary Firehorse restaurant at Vergelegen in Somerset West with our team. We had a wonderful lunch, enjoyed copious amounts of delicious Vergelegen Cap Classique, celebrating over 140 years of combined wine experience in our loyal team.
Judy attended Wine Concepts' annual Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Celebration with her daughter Leila on Thursday evening, 10 September 2026 at Moyo Kirstenbosch. They tasted through small-batch producers like Burton Francis's Francis Wines, and also larger wineries like La Motte, Leopard's Leap, David Finlayson Wines, and Mont Rochelle.
The Cap Classique Challenge, sponsored by Amorim Cork for 25 years, was held on Wednesday, 16 September 2025 at La Petite Colombe at Leeu Estates in Franschhoek. KWV Laborie was crowned the overall winner, winning the title of Best Wine on Show with its Laborie Blanc de Blancs 2020. For lunch, each course was beautifully prepared by the team at La Petite Colombe, accompanied by the top bubblies in the country. Certainly a treat on the calendar!
This is the 43rd year that Blaauwklippen has been running its wine blending competition, and this year they had a record number of entries from wine clubs across South Africa and Namibia! On Friday, 18 September 2026, Blaauwklippen hosted an awards luncheon on the estate to announce the competition's finalists and winning team.
