Sipping on the Groot Gariep

The Country Cellars Orange River Winemaker of the Year Competition is the richest prize in SA wine. An annual tourney that pits the wines of the region’s five cellars with such evocative names as Grootdrink, Kakemas and Keimoes against each other via a series of blind winetastings, shines the spotlight on South Africa’s forgotten wine appellation. Last year’s winner, Bolla Louw from Kakemas, trousered prizes worth R55 000 including a trip to a foreign winemaking region.

Just how important these trips are to improving wine quality was brought home to me last week as I tasted around 80 wines submitted for this year’s competition alongside Darling Cellars winemaker Abe Beukes and Spar wine consultant Tinus van Niekerk in a preliminary screening process of wines submitted to the competition. Final judging will take place in mid-October, but several features are already clear. Read More…