Why are there wine descriptions? Well, how do you buy wine when you don’t know what it tastes like? A lot of folks rely on reading wine descriptions to get an idea of what a wine will taste like.

Have you noticed that wine writers describe wine aromas as smelling like just about anything other than grapes? asks Nancy Hawks Miller. It’s a funny thing. Why the heck should the wine smell like plums when it’s made of grapes?

With all the Rhône blends flying around, I thought this would be a good time to take a quick look at what each of the major varieties might bring to these blends, writes Gregory Dal Piaz.  A fair question might be: Why are these wines blended? The easy answer is that the resultant wines are more complex than any component is on its own, and history probably plays at least as big a role.

Sparkling wine is by no means a single thing. It’s an umbrella category, and though we often speak of different types of sparkling wine in the same breath, there are differences in how they are produced, the grapes they use, and how they taste.

OK, bear with me for a second. These wines may not be amazing in your “This got 90 points and is only $8!” kind of way, but they are great value and a wonderful opportunity to add some amazement into your life. And they’re not in “This is a great sauvignon blanc!” kind of way either, but rather in a “WOW! What is this?” kind of way, writes Gregory Dal Piaz.

Met dié dat mense regoor die wêreld ’n al groter voorliefde vir wyn ontwikkel, spits Boschendal se bedrewe rooi- en witwynmakers hulle daarop toe om wynliefhebbers met vindingrykheid, oorspronklikheid, kwaliteit en etiese wynboupraktyke te bekoor.

We’re all familiar with pinot noir and pinot gris, two varieties of wine that get more than their fair share of attention, but what about pinot blanc? 

We all know that Piemonte is known for its red wines, but who can drink those on these blistering hot days? I sure can't! writes Anna Savino.

Whether you call this variety cinsault or by any of its many synonyms (cinsaut, bourdalase, navarro, hermitage, picardan noir, ottavienello or black malvoisie), it has a history that dates back centuries.

“Daar is net een perfekte wynmaker en Hy sit daarbo en stuur elke jaar ‘n paar ‘curve balls’ of ‘bouncers’ na ons hier op aarde om ons te toets en uit te daag om Hom te probeer nadoen,” sê DP Burger, die bestuurder/wynmaker op GlenWood in die Robertsvleivallei buite Franschhoek. “Dis wat wingerdbou en wynmaak so opwindend, uitdagend en dinamies maak.”

Maar wat het van ’n vyfde geslag-Franschhoeker, wie se groot-oupa glo gesien het hoe die laaste olifant die Franschhoek-vallei in 1868 verlaat het, een van die land se voorste chardonnay-makers gemaak? En hoekom het hy juis GlenWood gekies?