Best Value Tastings 2019: Results

By , 4 October 2019

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Over the past few months, winemag.co.za has convened a series of tastings aimed at finding the best wines costing between R60 to R120 a bottle.

Our intention was to identify great everyday drinking – wines which offer refreshment and flavour under ordinary circumstances, are widely available and don’t cost too much.

Minimum stock requirement that producers had to meet was 300 six-bottle cases or 1800 bottles and wines were be tasted blind by a three-person panel of experienced judges using the 100-point system.

Below are all the wines to rate 88 or more by type/variety:

CHARDONNAY

90
Fat Bastard 2018 – Price: R95

88
Cape Town Wine Co. 2018 – Price: R65
De Krans Wild Ferment Unwooded 2018 – Price: R74
Laibach The Ladybird 2018 (Woolworths) – Price: R90


CHENIN BLANC

91
Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection 2018 – Price: R108
Schultz Family Wines Skeleton Bay 2018 – Price: R120

90
Tierhoek 2017 – Price: R118

89
Alvi’s Drift Signature 2019 – Price: R60
Wildeberg & Kompanjie Wild House 2018 – Price: R60

88
Balance Winemakers Selection 2019 – Price: R68
Croyden Title Deed 2018 – Price: R83
Fat Bastard 2018 – Price: R95
Ken Forrester 2018 – Price: R60
Mulderbosch Steen op Hout 2018 – Price: R80
Opstal 2018 – Price: R100
Rietvallei 2018 – Price: R80


SAUVIGNON BLANC

90
DeMorgenzon DMZ 2019 – Price: R110
Perdeberg Cellar The Vineyard Collection 2019 – Price: R70
Zevenwacht 7even 2019 – Price: R66

89
Breëland 2019 – Price: R65
Daschbosch 2019 – Price: R90
Ken Forrester Petit 2019 – Price: R60

88
Bruce Jack 2019 – Price: R60
Cape Point Vineyards 2019 – Price: R98
Trizanne Signature Wines TSW 2019 – Price: R88
Strydom Family Wines The Freshman 2019 – Price: R90


WHITE BLENDS

91
Lammershoek The Innocent Chenin Blanc Viognier Sauvignon Blanc 2018 – Price: R94

90
Acheron Wines & Spirits Forager White 2019 – Price: R90

89
Vrede en Lust White Mischief 2018 – Price: R89

88
Babylonstoren Candide 2018 – Price: R88
The Drift Bonfire Hill White Blend 2018 – Price: R89


CABERNET SAUVIGNON                            

90
Landskroon 2017 – Price: R80

89
Du Preez Private Cellar 2015 – Price: R63
Nuy Winery Mastery 2017 – Price: R115

88
Ernie Els Big Easy 2018 – Price: R86
Morgenster 2018 – Price: R100


MERLOT

89
Le Sueur Wines Wild Card Queen of Hearts 2018 – Price: R72

88
Badsberg 2018 – Price: R60
Leopards Leap Family Vineyards 2018 – Price: R60
Morgenster 2018 – Price: R100


PINOTAGE                       

90
Bader & Walters 2016 – Price: R80
Bloemendal Waterlily 2016 -Price: R95

89
Bonnievale River Collection 2018 – Price: R70
Lammershoek The Innocent 2017 – Price: R94
Slanghoek Private Selection 2017 – Price: R65

88
Silkbush Mountain Vineyards 2017 – Price: R92


SHIRAZ               

90
Stellenrust 2017 – Price: R74
Lammershoek The Innocent 2017  – Price: R94

89
Bruce Jack 2018 – Price: R60
Guardian Peak 2018 – Price: R95
Robertson 2018 – Price: R72

88
Cavalli Black Beauty 2016 – Price: R100
De Wet 2017 – Price: R60
Ormonde The Old Block 2015 – Price: R95
Simonsig Mr Borio’s 2017 – Price: R110
Wildeberg & Kompanjie Wild House 2018 – Price: R70


RED BLENDS                    

90
Mountain Ridge Wines De Liefde Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot NV – Price: R65

89
Dornier Cocoa Hill Red 2017 – Price: R84
Gabrielskloof The Blend 2017 – Price: R120
Lammershoek The Innocent SMG 2017 – Price: R95
Tierhoek Grenache Syrah MourvEdre 2017 – Price: R117

88
Kaapzicht Bin 3 2016 – Price: R90
The Drift Bonfire Hill Red Blend  2018R69 – Price: R69

For a hard copy of the results, including tasting notes and background information about all the wines rated 89 and above, download and print the following: Best Value Tastings 2019

Comments

5 comment(s)

Please read our Comments Policy here.

    Colin Archibald | 20 October 2019

    In your Shiraz report the Simonsig Mr Borios 2017 received a top 10 with 94 points. In this Best Value report you have the same wine with 88 points. Kindly clarify. Thanks, Colin.

      Christian Eedes | 21 October 2019

      Hi Colin, While the discrepancy is regrettable, a rating arising out of a blind tasting should be viewed as a snapshot in time and are very much context specific – for one thing, there were two different panels involved when it comes to the different ratings of this particular wine. I also quite Michael Fridjhon’s notion of wine being “performance art” in the sense that the same wine can show/be appreciated differently on different days. I appreciate that the public would like ratings to be “reliable”, which is to say exactly reproducible under all circumstances but would humbly suggest a more appropriate measure should be “plausability” – wine asssessment is ultimately not a scientific undertaking.

      Kwispedoor | 21 October 2019

      Everything you say here is true, Christian, but tasters are in a different mind set (and thus scoring bracket) when they know they are tasting “value” wines. Blind tastings should ideally be completely blind, i.e. with zero knowledge of the wines or their theme, zero instructions & expectations, etc. And a few ringers are always good, even essential.

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