Does 🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA make good WINE???

[@paulreed4117]

I am an American living in South Africa and there has been a significant improvement in the quality of the wines in the last 10 years. Excellent small producers who are really making world class wine and lifting the quality across the industry. Chenin Blanc is a great wine to explore as it is very expressive of the terroir. Let me know when you are coming to SA and I would be happy to introduce you to some of the top producers etc.

[@nitingupta8605]

Hi, I'm in Cape Town. Can you please recommend some wines for me? I prefer reds (Optima) and rarely white (Life from Stone). Thanks!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Nicccee, enjoy the wines down there. What have you been doing in South Africa for 10 years?

[@davelawrence1856]

@@nitingupta8605 Go for a wine tasting at Oldenburg and enjoy great wines and a magic view

[@nitingupta8605]

@@davelawrence1856 thanks, will try someday!

[@soulfulwapechi]

I am so proud that you are reviewing South African wine. I am a huge fan of the region! Its a plus that you have the Aslina Chardonnay wine presented -- its one of my favorite SA wines and my favorite Aslina!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

There is a lot of great stuff being made there for sure!

[@LaurenFrancisco]

I haven't watched the video yet because I'm at work, but I see Aslina and I already know I'll love this video. I'm a South African wine enthusiast and collector, and appreciate you doing this video. :) Cheers.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ohhh a SA wine collector??? Nice, it means you are drinking well.

[@apolloguitars]

Blinds are my favorite, but I love these transparent walkthroughs as well. Cheers!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Thanks for the input, cheers

[@KotteBoks]

Pinotage is probably my favorite grape. As you said the nose sometimes isn't for everyone (can be a bit rough) but I actually love it. And the palate is never boring. Also very good value for money.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh wow, your favorite grape in the world?? That's a vote of confidence.

[@KotteBoks]

@@drmatthewhorkey For reds yes. The fact that there's not as big a range available as the more well known grapes like Cab Sauv might contribute to that too tbh. Plus I like my senses to get wrecked 😜. To me it kinda does the same thing Riesling does for whites.

[@KurtGFelix]

Great video. I'm a very proud South African and think our wine is often overlooked, however I feel we have some incredible "bang for your back" wines and this is a great example. I haven't tried the Beeslaar and after this video I'm going to get it asap!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

I hope to make it down there soon!

[@KurtGFelix]

@@drmatthewhorkey I live in Cape Town 😉

[@derekcontreras7494]

Great video my only experience with South African wine so far was great called seriously old dirt. I thought it was a phenomenal wine. And this video puts South Africa back on the radar. Thanks

[@drmatthewhorkey]

That is a great name for a wine

[@joe-zp7ge]

brambleberry fruit almost twiggy! hahahahah! your the greatest!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Hahhaha glad you got it

[@fanatiek1]

Golden video again. Showing expertise in taste, knowledgeable and unpretentious informative. Could listen to you for hours. Keep rafting these wine canyons. Breaking it down blind or otherwise. I'd buy anything you recommend. By the way love SA wines. Generally a lot of quality for their price.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Wow that is a heckuva comment and something I don’t take lightly.

[@cameronmunden9415]

Another great video, had the Breeslar before, v nice. Bang on about the comparison of pinotage to sweigelt. A friend introduced me to Vin de Constance recently, WOW! Hunt it down, one of the great sweet wines of the world

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Niccee, glad you got the Zweigelt comparison, I know a ton of people haven't tasted that grape but it's really the closest for me.

[@gustavomgomes]

Can’t choose between open and blind . No way . Love both formats 😂 And you nailed the remark about old world versus new world . I had some difficult to pick SA wines from some French and Spanish blends! Cheers !

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Cheers and thanks for the input

[@hugo3913]

What a good video Glad to see you enjoying South African Wine, I have a few recommendations for you you should try Muratie wine and Springfield Estate these are 2 of my favorite farms that produces great Cabernet Sauvignons and my all time favorate is the Ronnie Melck Syrah from Muratie

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh thanks!

[@stroopwafel6141]

Great stuff again. When I think SA, I tend to go for chenin blanc and syrah (from Swartland). Fusion V is also a great buy.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh thanks for the rec!

[@garyglitta]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet but Abrie Beeslaar is the multi awarded, legendary winemaker from Kanonkop - the king of Pinotage. This being his own family label made from a monopole nearby to Kanonkop in Stellenbosch

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Yeppers!! Good stuff indeed

[@hocheye]

Have had a couple South African reds, pretty good I have a bottle of 2019 Graceland Cabernet Sauvignon Stellenbosch in my wine cooler, looking forward to opening this one.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

ohhh nice, enjoy that bottle.

[@JD-wx3pk]

I love Nederburg wines, hands down beautiful. Its only 12 dollers or so at the supermarket, and I consider it better than many expensive wines. Their Shiraz is outstanding!.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

They can offer great QPR

[@karlinggard]

Abrie Beeslaar is the winemaker at Kanonkop, and he also makes his own Pinotage and Chardonnay with his name on the label. He's regarded as one of the most talented winemakers in the world! His Pinotage is one of the best red wines I've had, so I'm actually surprised you didnt score it higher.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Niceeee... It's a fabulous wine for sure, Pinotage flavors may be a bit off putting for some

[@karlinggard]

@@drmatthewhorkey I might have been too picky with the Pinotage wines I've tasted, because I only really remember one Pinotage that I haven't liked 😅 Southern Right and Moreson are two producers making some nice Pinotage wines in two very different styles.

[@GarthScholtz]

Nice selection, giving a small snapshot into our wine scene. Not surprising you like the Beeslaar. It's the Kanonkop wine maker's private label.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh you are from South Africa?? Enjoy the beautiful wine.s

[@GarthScholtz]

@@drmatthewhorkey I am indeed 😄. Just finished watching your Cracking Croatian Wine series. Really needed that 10 years ago when I frequently visited the country. But great work.

[@CreativeFabien]

Souvenirs from my previous visit there ... Chenin, chenin, chenin, chenin, but also I did visit Ken Forrester 2 times, L' Avenir, then the great Swartland with Eben Sadie, Adi Badenhorst Terracura/Silwervis... and many stunning producers, including plenty of old vines selections - been long time fan of Reyneke also.... Should also mention plenty of producers buy grapes from farmers and collaborate with them all along the year to make wine as the land is so expensive

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhhh you visited some of the greats!

[@davelawrence1856]

Great video and a interesting selection of wines. I live in the UK and we have a huge selection of SA wines with some costing less here than South Africa. There is an excellent wine guide called Platters which will point you in the right direction to start your wine journey.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Yeaaaah I know there is a great selection up there in the UK. Enjoy the variety!

[@davelawrence1856]

Another place to visit is Flagstone which is in a converted explosive factory in Somerset West. They buy grapes in or have exclusive small blocks of vines for their top of the range wines. Not much of a view but the wines are excellent and the pinotage gives Kanonkop a good run for the money

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh nice recommendation!

[@MrFreddyd3]

Yes. More tastings please.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Plenty of tasting videos to come

[@richblake3506]

I will always try a Chenin from South Africa

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Yes they can be soooo good

[@nigelgreenhalgh4316]

Visited SA this year for the first time. Stunned by the quality/price ratio. Very good to excellent wines start at the 20 euro/dollar mark (400 Rand). Outside SA the price doubles! E.g. my favourite at the moment is Boukenhoutskloof in SA 24 Euro in Germany over 50!! Still worth it as it is world class, but the competition from European wines at this price point is enormous!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Yes once you hit the 50 Euro range in EU, you can basically drink some of the most incredible wines in the world

[@ElvisFerbeyre]

I love South African wines, not still a huge fan of pinotage and haven't tried many yet, but I believe it takes time to learn to like it. I think SA blends are better, like Meerlust Rubicon, probably the best wine I've had from that region, you should give it a try if you like serious wine, 2016 vintage was phenomenal. It ranges around $40 or slightly less.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Pinotage isn’t for everyone. I have had Rubicon before. Big, rich wine

[@davelawrence1856]

Also a fan of Rubicon. Best vintages are 2009, 2015 and 2017 which also applies to many other South Africa reds. The wines from the well regarded producers do age well. I agree that pinotage is a bit of a hit and miss, but try a bottle from the higher end producers and it does need to age a bit.

[@tiaanbezuidenhout8131]

No, the Meerlust Rubicon is purely there because of accessibility and marketability. Not because of taste. There are a lot better wines out there

[@ElvisFerbeyre]

@@davelawrence1856 right now, I only got access to buy the 2017, considering your opinion on that vintage I might buy it and age it, right now, I have a 2016 on my wine fridge too.

[@ElvisFerbeyre]

@@tiaanbezuidenhout8131 Definitely not for taste, it's a SERIOUS wine, and like I said before, South African wine is not for everyone.

[@solomonmengeu1003]

South Africa is a great wine making country and their wines often are more European-esque than some of their Southern Hemisphere counterparts. Their MCCs offer tremendous QPR, their Cabernet Sauvignons are probably the most famous. Like you though I prefer their Mediterranean cultivars. Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache, etc are great. Pinotage can be good, but the ones that make it here are often a bit too much vanilla, oak and dark fruits. I've some that are great, as well. As to whites Chenin Blanc is great, I remember when i was first getting into wine that a Ken Forrester Old Vines CB impressed me a lot. We also hope to get there sometime, but more likely for the nature and wildlife. About blind vs. non blind tasting. Blind seems to be more stressful, so maybe sometimes its good to mix it up a bit.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Yes I want to go there for the nature and hiking as well. Very astute about the stress levels… a lot goes into the blind tastings behind the scenes.

[@eflinneflinn]

It's worth looking for Southern Right Pinotage and for their Sauvignon Blanc.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Niceeee rec!

[@rvansteensel420]

bruh i was there a few weeks ago , and the wine quality was INSANE

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Niceee

[@robertjames-life4768]

Just got back from a 2 week vacation in South Africa, did a safari and a few wine safari’s. We had good, great and excellent wines. I’ll have a vlog of them on my channel in about a month.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Niceee, sounds like a helluva trip

[@dennisrosa1551]

I like South African wines, not a lot of availability at local stores in Ohio, may need to order some on the internet where there is a greater selection of the SA regions and wineries, great fast tasting. Sparkling sounds good also.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Sparkling is good! Yes the problem is lack of availability. There is some great stuff coming out of the country though!

[@joelarose9589]

I love a mixture, with some blind tastings. I do prefer the blind tastings with around five bottles. I have had a few Pinotage wines from SA and couldn't get past the nose. The wines that I tried all had an almost paint thinner like nose. The Grenache Noir sounds intriguing. To go from strawberry to black liquorish with fruit and earthiness, I'm sold. Sounds like a great Pizza night wine and the 13.5% is welcoming. So many wines hit that 14.5%.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Thanks and I do think the Grenache would hit the spot for you (based on all your comments)

[@rodjacobs3396]

I like the blind tastings, but these are are good too. I don't see why you can't do both. Usually my comment is that I don't have access to the wines you mention. While I may not have access to these specific wineries. I actually do have access to plenty of South African wine in my area surprisingly. South Africa makes some good wines. But as a retailer, so far it's a bit of a hard sell. The average customer, at least in my area, doesn't seem to know what to make of them. Especially higher end wines. South African unfortunately just isn't an area people are looking for high quality wines, again, at least in my area. Chenin Blanc of course has to be mentioned. I've been seeing a lot of nice Syrah too. And the few Cabs I've come across have been very interesting as well.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh thanks for sharing. Good to see you have a decent selection down there. You are right though, when people want higher end wines they look to France, Italy, and California often

[@Realtime1501]

if you want a truly unique South African wine try some from Tokara they grow grapes and olives on the farm

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Niceee

[@comesahorseman]

Some years ago I tried a Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir that was quite good. Otherwise, I don't know that much about the region.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Fantastic producer, they've showed up several times on the channel!

[@jameswingad3212]

As a value champion there are some sauvignon blancs from SA that are truly brilliant. Apart from that I really love the green tropical fruit of Chenin from there. On the whole I´ve found their reds surprisingly less successful.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

The reputation is that the reds can feel a bit big and hot but I have tasted some wonderful red wines. I do love Chenin from SA too

[@luisfelipecanever9505]

South African wines aren’t as available as other countries’ here, so it’s a bit of a weakness of mine too. Some time ago, the somm at my wine store of choice suggested a SA wine named Anwilka, a Syrah, and it’s simply fabulous.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Yea that is the problem, the availability!

[@tiaanbezuidenhout8131]

Wow!!! That wine would not even be on the shelf in most wine stores in SA. Made famous purely because of the wine farm itself (claiming to be one of the oldest in SA) There are a lot better syrah's out there. That wine farm is for show, not wine.

[@luisfelipecanever9505]

@@tiaanbezuidenhout8131 South African wines are not so widely available in Brazil. Even anwilka is not available anymore. I loved the wine, but I believe your feedback. Only increases my interest in traveling to South African wine country…

[@CrescentRollCarl]

Nice tasting. I need to do a deeper dive into SA than I have. As for blind tasting, I do prefer blind. I just think it's a more objective way to judge quality. But I enjoy the videos either way.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Thanks for the input!

[@mahlanguism]

Come over and have a great time here

[@drmatthewhorkey]

I want to!

[@robdielemans9189]

I like their Viogniers when I'm in the mood for ridiculous tropical canned peaches candy kind of flavours. Have not yet dabbled in their reds.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh nice Viognier... Funny bc for whites they are more known for Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc

[@danielterhorst]

Love SA wines. Sadie Mev. Kirsten is my favourite. Curious what you think of it.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Ahhh nice, haven’t had it

[@tomh888]

There are great wines like Echo of G

[@drmatthewhorkey]

😮🍷🙏👏🏼

[@romeomaneli845]

Ntsiki Biyela of ASLINA Wines is the first black female wine maker in South Africa 🇿🇦

[@drmatthewhorkey]

yeppers!! I heard about her

[@remifjelldal7299]

exactly because you dont have a lot of experience with SA; is the reason why this definitley should have been blind!(or at least to the degree it can be, sparkling would be pretty obivous but non the less. the wines should in my opinion been blind still :) don't worry about getting it correct or neccesarrily having some special brackets, just these wines, you know what they are, but you dont automatically know which ones are which. and here, i'm pretty sure you would have nailed all of them anyway ;) do it blind, then retaste them and talk about the producer after :)

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Thanks for the input!

[@diegogodinhorocha9448]

I had a cheap Pinotage years ago and hated it. Then, I had the Chocolate Block 2 years ago and I thought it was too oaky and too expensive for my taste and pocket. It's hard to find good values for South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the US here in Brazil. It's a shame, really.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Yes you are in a TOUGH market for imported wine (pricewise)

[@diegogodinhorocha9448]

@@drmatthewhorkey And the national wines are REALLY overpriced. Thank God for the soft border control in Argentina.

[@izanamiledwaba1330]

Let us know when you get here, there's a lot of wine to experience and we would like to celebrate with you.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

😃😀

[@marknelson8724]

The South African wines available in the Midwest are not that great. I recall first tasting pinotage at least twenty years ago and it was just as if the wine was a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Cinsault. Then the wines disappeared for a few years and when they came back they were very animal. I have no idea what happened.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

The grape makes distinctive wines that not everybody loves. That’s for sure.