Cape Winemakers Guild

A relationship with quality wine is like a good friendship. There is never a dull moment and the more quality time invested in the relationship, the more you learn to understand and respect the delicate nuances. Plus, of course, your life is enriched because of it. As challenging and stringent the parameters of lockdown were […]

Oaked, or unoaked, that is always the question, layered with a myriad of answers to help winemakers reach their intended flavour and structural destination. A maturation cellar stacked with oak barrels is a quintessential image that awaits you when visiting a wine estate. Just imagine the sweet-musty smell of an old cellar, the coolness and […]

I clearly remember my first Nedbank CWG pre-auction tasting 15 years ago; the anticipation building as guests arrive in the tasting hall and the chattering growing louder as the room fills up with key role players in the wine industry. And then, as everyone took their seats, the room turned silent for the tasting to […]

The intimate understanding of terroir begs the empathetic question: Do people care? Why break your head over sublayers of limestone if you know where to find a Chardonnay that consistently delivers on a creamy, citrusy mouthfeel? Or why be bothered about the amount of clay present in a vineyard site if you have a go-to […]

Ataraxia Under The Gavel Chardonnay 2020 100% Chardonnay Sourced from a single (now fully organically grown), cool, south-facing vineyard, this vin de terroir is made in an old, now seldom used, traditional “black” method – fruit that is vigorously, even harshly, worked; juice that is so excessively aerated that it turns a deep ebony colour at the […]

The Past & Present Protégés! Watch interviews with these future winemakers

Ataraxia Under The Gavel Chardonnay 2019 100% Chardonnay Wine of Origin Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge Sourced from a single south-facing vineyard on The Skyfields, home to Ataraxia in the Hemel- en-Aarde outside Hermanus. Minimalist winemaking and a sensitive wooding regime ensure the most accurate and intimate expression of site and place possible. Entirely fermented in small, tight-grained […]

Ataraxia Under The Gavel Chardonnay 2018 Once again sourced from a single, cool, south-facing vineyard on The Skyfields, home to Ataraxia, located in the Hemel-en-Aarde outside the Atlantic coastal town of Hermanus. Painstaking fruit selection at harvest was followed by an extreme non-interventionist winemaking approach. Fermented entirely in small, tight-grain French oak barrels, custom ordered […]

Ataraxia Under The Gavel Chardonnay 2017 Once again, sourced from a single south-facing vineyard on The Skyfields, home to Ataraxia, located in the Hemel-en-Aarde outside the Atlantic coastal town of Hermanus. Fruit selection at harvest was painstaking, followed by an extreme non-interventionist winemaking approach. Fermented in small, tight-grained French oak barrels, custom ordered from selected […]