My Wine Wisdom
Valentine Wine
Sure, Valentines Day has come and gone. For some February 14th is a romantic day spent with someone special, for others just another day in the calendar. Either way there’s money to be made.
‘From Valentine’s getaways to Valentine wines, it’s all made possible and comes with heart-shaped chocolates and a big red bow.’
It’s not [...]
Boutique Wine: A Mystery Unto Itself!
The term ‘Boutique Wine’ or ‘Boutique Winery’ has been grossly overused. Evidence of this is apparent in the many different definitions given to the term:
‘If a winery makes less than 2,000 cases a year, it’s considered a boutique winery’
‘If a winery makes less than 5,000 cases a year, it’s considered a boutique winery’
‘Boutique wines come [...]
Honesty Goes a Long Way…
Strewn into the hallway by the preoccupied postman, it’s always a pleasure to be greeted by the latest edition of WINE Magazine on returning home. I flick through the pages to the back page, my favorite section, where in this particular issue Giniel de Villiers is interviewed.
I find this regular interview particularly entertaining, as [...]
An Italian Twist
I like to think of My Wine Cellar as a journey. A journey with wine enthusiasts, together discovering what the world of wine has to offer. Even though My Wine Cellar focuses on the South African wine industry, from time to time one must digress in order to gain valuable perspective.
Today we take an Italian [...]
Pinotage: Love it or Hate it
The ‘Pinotage debate’ always seems to leave me disillusioned. I can’t really understand why the debate is perpetuated, and can only conclude that poor Pinotage is a wine variety that people love to hate.
To me it is quite simple. Pinotage is a wine variety like any other. It has its own unique characteristics, that some [...]
Marvelous Muscat
To the South African wine novice ‘Muscat’ might not mean much to you. But, it is in fact an important grape variety grown all over the world. And yes, it certainly is grown in South Africa.
What if I said Muscat is synonymous with Muscadel… perhaps now you follow? Of course, everyone knows South Africa’s favorite [...]
Know your Yeasts
What many people sometimes forget is that if it were not for the existence of yeasts there would be no wine. And could you imagine a world without wine!? Certainly not me
Back in the day, around 6000BC to be precise, it was wild grape yeasts that did the trick. What ’trick’ you might [...]
The Truth in our Taste Buds
Wine is a curious combination of both science and art. Wine can be easily scrutinized in a lab, and everything from alcohol content to acidity carefully calculated. However, when it comes to the aromatic properties of wine it all gets hazy.
‘What one man will describe as a work of art, a masterpiece, is to another [...]
Cellar Tips
Ever thought of building your own wine cellar? Or maybe you’re just curious as to how wine should be properly stored. Here are my basic cellar tips for all of the My Wine Cellar family to share…
The ideal temperature to store wine is between 13ºC-15ºC. However, variation in temperature is most critical and for this reason [...]
Why Wine?
I like wine because it’s alive. Each bottle is different from another, and if you taste it the one day it would have changed by the next.
The trip to your local wine shop is always an interesting one, as there is just so much variety out there. This allows one to experiment with different wines [...]
