Tim Atkin MW (94)

This is "just" the basic Chenin Blanc from David and Nadia Sadie, but it's better than most wineries' single vineyard releases. Made with fruit from seven sites, all of them old vines, it's a focused, linear, Paardeberg-dominated style with mealy, citrus flavours, some lanolin and piercing freshness. 2021-27

Tim Atkin MW (94)

This is "just" the basic Chenin Blanc from David and Nadia Sadie, but it's better than many people's top wine. Made with fruit from seven vineyards, four of them on decomposed granite, this is a classy, understated white with negligible oak, layered citrus and beeswax flavours, a hint of aniseed and stony grip. 2022-28

Vinous (91)

Straw-gold. Peach, honey, menthol, herbs and flowers on the complex nose and palate. Honeyed, thick and brisk, with penetrating, ripe acidity perfectly buffering the wine's sweetness. Finishes very long, smooth and surprisingly dry. Very rich and very well balanced chenin blanc, one of the best of my tastings this year.

Vinous (91)

Bright yellow-gold. Deep, complex aromas of yellow fruits, smoke and honey, lifted by a subtle note of white flowers. At once dense, smooth and light on its feet, showing a fruitier personality and an airier texture than the 2015, not to mention an element of saline minerality. Here the oak influence gives shape to the wine and draws out its tactile finish. This may go truffley in its golden years.

Vinous (89)

Pale gold-tinged yellow. Slightly musky, subdued scents of pineapple and fig. Broad, plush and dry, conveying serious palate presence and a suggestion of spicy oak that gives the finish a bit of phenolic firmness. A rather uncompromising Chenin Blanc, notable more for its texture than for its lift or fruit definition.

Wine Advocate (88)

A clean and refreshing Chenin with classic citrus tones, the 2017 Chenin Blanc was 100% barrel fermented with natural yeasts. On the palate, the wine is consistent with nose and has a good structure, showing clean, correct citrus along with soft, just-ripe stone fruits and white flowers. Medium-bodied, the wine ends clean and crisp with a moderate to long finish. Just over 10,000 bottles were made.

Platter’s Wine Guide (96)

5* First in SA; 21st vintage in 2017. Sumptuous and sensual dessert wine from shade-dried chenin, 30 months in 50% new barrels. A taste sensation of exotic tropical fruit, sundried apricot, toast hazelnut and a hint of vanilla; terrifc acid ballance.

Vinous (94)

The 2020 Chardonnay DeMorgenzon Reserve comes from two blocks behind the winery and sees around 30% new oak for around 9 to 10 months on the gross lees with another three months in foudres and used oak/tank. It has an attractive nose with orange blossom, hazelnut and light spicy notes. The palate is very balanced with a lovely texture, a nice "bite" of acidity, taut and fresh with a saline finish that lingers. A wonderful Chardonnay.

Vinous (93)

The 2019 White Savage is hand-sorted before being processed into Nomblot concrete tanks for alcoholic fermentation; 30% of the grapes are left whole bunch. It has an intense nose, not overt fruit but rather scents of wet wool, candle wax and lanolin, all beautifully defined. The palate is very well balanced with crisp acidity, a slightly waxy texture and touches of cereal and grilled hazelnut toward the persistent finish. It is not a wine for every palate, but those who like it will love it.

Vinous (96)

The 2021 White has no Chenin Blanc in this blend so reverts back to the Sauvignon/Semillon blend, the former from the Rupert family; a spontaneous ferment with a judicious 10-20% new 500-liter oak. It has a drop dead gorgeous bouquet with yellow fruit, lanolin and peach skin, quite pithy in style with just a touch of reduction. The palate is well balanced with a lively, slightly peppery entry, the Semillon expressive and dictating the ginger-tinged finish. It just grows with aeration - an outstanding white from Duncan Savage.

Decanter (96)

The acclaimed Peter-Allan Finlayson, whose own label is Crystallum, also makes the Gabriëlskloof wines. This cuvée is an effort to showcase the ‘national treasure’ that is old-vine Chenin, with grapes drawn mainly from Swartland but also Durbanville. Subtle and complex aromas of flowers, herbs, yellow apple, peach and spice, while the palate is dense and detailed and the finish gently savoury.

Vinous (97)

The 2019 Fleurfontein comprises pure Sauvignon Blanc and was matured in Hungarian and French oak for 18 months. It has a fabulous bouquet of irresistible scents of honey, apricot jam, mango and passion fruit, all beautifully defined. The palate is balanced with a fine bead of acidity that slices effortlessly though the marmalade and quince notes. This sweet wine exudes heavenly poise; it’s almost Sauternes-like on the finish. Another fabulous Fleurfontein.

Tim Atkin MW (94)

Alex Starey is better known for his reds than his whites, but this cuvée of Chenin Blanc with 45% Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne (the last two included for the first time) is wonderful too. Very much a southern Rhône style, it's savoury and herbal, with notes of honeysuckle, stone fruit and citrus, deftly framed by oak.

Tim Atkin MW (94)

This is one of two current releases of Terrasse, produced from an assemblage of Chenin Blanc and 39% Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. Wax and honeysuckle aromas progress into a tangy, focused, herbal palate, with some stony reduction and a textured finish. 2021-26

Christian Eedes (95)

55% Chenin Blanc, 18% Chardonnay, 16% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Viognier and 1% Roussanne. Expressive aromatics of flowers, herbs, citrus and peach plus a slight nuttiness while the palate shows good fruit expression and tangy acidity – plenty of detail, the finish long and dry.

James Suckling (93)

A well-crafted sauvignon blanc with notes of green apples, lime and some tropical fruits. Juicy and medium-bodied with lovely harmonious texture. Velvety with volume and precision. Lovely with a focused and well-rounded finish. Drink now.

Vinous (95)

Deep, full orange-gold. Knockout nose offers orange, apricot, cherry, raspberry, mace, nutmeg, honey and flowers. Thick, very sweet and hugely concentrated; like liquid velvet in the mouth but with outstanding energy to its palate-staining orange and apricot fruit. Utterly seamless wine with a palate-staining, lightly saline aftertaste hinting at red berries.

Tim Atkin MW (96)

South Africa's Sweet Wine of the Year 2017.

Decanter (98)

An historical wine, Vin de Constance has been re-established in the last few years as one of the world’s finest sweet wines. Dried Muscat grapes are aged for three years before bottling, in French and Hungarian casks with a touch of acacia wood. Citrus, orange zest, rosewater and spice notes leap out of the glass. The palate has a laser-like focus with massive sweetness perfectly balanced by acidity and a mineral finish. As impressive as Château d’Yquem (and considerably better value).

Tim Atkin MW (98)

Increasingly celebrated as one of the great sweet wines of the world, not just the Cape, Vin de Constance is a delight to taste and review. Slightly drier than the 205 release at 165 grams of sugar, it has more in common with the Loire or Tokaji than it does with Sauternes in terms of freshness and structure.

Tim Atkin MW (98)

"Lighter and lighter" is the motto at Klein Constantia these days, according to Matt Day. The latest, world-class release of Vin de Constance certainly doesn’t lack sweetness at 165 grams or even concentration, but it has a freshness that's reminiscent of Vouvray or Barsac. Subtly wooded in 50% new barrels, it unfurls layers of citrus, toast and tarte tatin, with a drizzle of honey and vivid acidity and palate length. Bravo!

Matthew Jukes (19.5++)

I am informed by the top man at Klein Constantia that the price will be the same as last year’s superb 2017 and all of the likely candidates in the UK are likely to hold stock. It will require a little effort on Google and you will see that a large number of wine merchants will list 2018 Vin de Constance and while the prices swing around like no other wine I know, at £60 or so, for a half litre, it certainly makes sense to me and when you consider the sheer quality of this vintage, it is a bargain for this celestial experience. Stock is likely to arrive in September 2021, but do feel free to register your interest with your preferred wine merchant now. Vintage reports suggest that the build-up to the 2018 harvest brought the highest summer rainfall of the last six years and, combined with some of the coldest night-time temperatures on record, the vines were granted a very long and very slow growing season. These conditions have imbued extreme delicacy of perfume and flavour and also staggering concentration and length in this wine. It also means that the 2018 vintage has otherworldly characteristics and I cannot remember a young vintage tasting so refined and demure. Light bunches and tiny Muscat de Frontignan berries underline just how unusual this vintage was and with a harvest that was a fortnight later than average and crops down by about 15% all of these facts make sense when you taste this ethereal wine. Aged for three years in a combination of 50% new French oak barrels, a small number of acacia barrels, as well as large format foudres, this is both a sensual and also sensitive wine. For a start, the colour is incredibly pale – think a young Sancerre! But the viscosity is amazing when you pour a glass because the liquid moves ever so slightly slower and more deliberately into the glass. The lights come on and the brain fires up immediately and it takes you by surprise just how quickly your olfactory system senses that you are in the presence of greatness. I was in a state of heightened anticipation, long before I raised the glass to my lips and the reward is exquisite. The perfume and palate combine in an astral haze of delight with orange blossom, fig, lemon verbena, wild honey and acacia notes caressing your senses. The texture is super-smooth, incredibly long and unnervingly gentle. It certainly possesses the longest finish I can remember on a Vin de Constance and I have, very fortunately, a tasted huge number of vintages of this wine. If you have never tasted this wine before, please start with this vintage – it will blow your mind. If you have and you are a fan, this is a critical purchase for your collection. I cannot wait to add this wine to my cellar later in the year.

Decanter (98)

Butterscotch, lemon patisserie and peach aromas. Pristine quality to the texture, lively and thrilling, this is a serious, opulent and powerful wine, more on the spiced, nuanced side with aspects of dried herbs, wood scents and bitter lemon and orange with a touch of honeyed lychee. It feels supremely complex and characterful. Sophisticated, layered and balanced with some minerality, a slight graphite edge all of which adds to the whole. It's still extremely youthful but there is real sculpting here, a sense of precision, style and freshness. Well crafted with an extremely long life ahead. A wonder, and one of the best from the estate!

Vinous (94)

The 2020 Viognier The Age of Grace has a subtle, well-defined bouquet of detailed lemon sherbet, lemon thyme and crushed pebble scents, poised and, yes, graceful. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, and linear and quite steely toward the almost Chenin-like finish. This is not a flamboyant, Rhône-like Viognier – it’s is far more tensile and racy. It should age extremely well in bottle.

Wine Advocate (97)

Hands down the best Viognier in the country, the 2022 Estate Reserve Viognier is instantly impressive in the glass. It seduces and captivates with a delicate floral nose that overflows with aromas of just-ripe stone fruits and sweet citrus. Medium to full-bodied, the palate shows considerable weight with agile, succulent acidity before displaying an appropriate level of phenolic bitterness to keep things food friendly and fresh. The wine concludes with an elongated, ever-evolving finish that has me returning for more. Just under 1,600 bottles were produced. If you're a Viognier lover, you must seek out this bottling.

Christian Eedes (97)

Made from own vineyards that survived the fire and what a triumph it is. Matured for 11 months in 500-litre barrels, 40% new. The nose shows white peach, citrus and some struck-match reduction while the palate shows extraordinary concentration and well-integrated acidity before a super-long finish. It’s wonderfully well realized, possessing plenty of depth without sacrificing focus.

Vinous (94)

The 2021 Chardonnay Estate Reserve is 100% from Greyton matured for 11 months in 500-litre barrels, 40% new. It has a wonderful bouquet with honeydew melon, apricot blossom and light crushed stone scents that percolate through with time. The palate is very well balanced with tropical hints of passion fruit and guava, but the acidity keeps everything on a tight course, very minerally on the finish. Top class.