The Sutherland Reserve Range consists of three premium wines, a Reserve Grenache and a Reserve Petit Verdot, both cultivars not normally associated with Elgin, as well as the Reserve Chardonnay, a variety for which this region has become known as one of South Africa’s leading areas.

“Selecting the Chardonnay for the Reserve Range was a bit of a no-brainer. The cool climate, Tukulu soils and the proximity to the ocean that lies nine kilometres away makes for about as ideal a South African Chardonnay site as one could wish for,” says Gyles Webb. 

The grapes for the Sutherland Reserve Range are hand-picked in Elgin and transported to the Thelema winery in Banhoek, Stellenbosch for vinification.

Platter Guide 93 pts.

Read the story of Thelema Sutherland's Cool Climate Reserve Wines by Greg Sherwood MW

Image courtesy of Greg Sherwood MW

The remarkable track record of Ginny Povall’s under-the-radar Botanica Mary Delany Chenin Blanc makes it one of SA’s very best and most consistent Chenins. The 2015 has just been released and is an extraordinary wine having received four Platter’s 5-star ratings in the last 5 years! Similarly, the 2011, 2013 (95 points), 2014 and 2015 (96 points) are some of the highest rated in Tim Atkin’s annual reports. Read more about Ginny's amazing Chenins

The De Trafford team have been carefully hand labelling, wrapping and packaging a wonderful collection of wines for you this winter. Every time it rains (and thankfully we've had plenty!),it's down to the cellar and when the beautiful winter sun comes out we're out in the vineyard pruning and fussing about! Read the full story

Christian Eedes reviewed the big man Donovan Rall's 2018 releases on May 25th in Winemag.co.za - always such a great source of information on Cape wines. 

When Donovan Rall first started out back in 2008, there were just two wines, the White and the Red. The range has now expanded to seven (eight if you count the Pét-Nat made exclusively for the Japanese market) but the overall quality is as high as ever.  

Read what Christian has to say about these extraordinary wines