Platter’s by Diners Club South African Wine Guide 2020 was launched at Cape Town’s Table Bay Hotel on 8 November 2019 with over 230 guests in attendance, the VIPs including the wine producers who achieved the maximum 5-star rating in the new edition. This accolade is reserved for wines that are “South African classics” and score 95 points or more on the internationally recognised 100-point scale.
In the 40th Anniversary Edition of South Africas best selling wine guide, five Elgin wines were awarded 5 stars this year, with Shannon Mount Bullet 2016 falling under the highest-scoring 5-star wines in the Merlot category, achieving for the second year in a row, the highly coveted Platter’s Wine of the Year status. “We are exceptionally proud of our meticulous 3 hectare Merlot vineyard up in the mountainous Elgin Valley” says James Downes, owner and viticulturalist of Shannon Wines. “This is the fourth Platter’s Five Star rating for our Mount Bullet, making it the most awarded 5 star Merlot in the Platter’s Wine Guide”.
The Five Star status is an accolade reserved for wines that are “South African classics” and score 95 points or more on the internationally recognised 100-point scale, Elgin wines that earned this highly acclaimed status include:
Merlot – Shannon Mount Bullet 2016
The wine has a fragrance of ripe red fruits such as plums and dark cherries, with earthy complexity and yet still expressing minerality.
Chardonnay – Oak Valley Groenlandberg 2018
A cultivar grown at high altitude and with a unique microclimate. This, alongside whole bunch wild fermentations, creates a wine that is delicate, yet rich in character, carrying a strong sense of place.
Chardonnay – Richard Kershaw Clonal Selection Elgin 2018
Restrained, mineral style focussed on elegance with a white fruit character, some oatmeal and some complexity gained from percipient applied wood.
Sauvignon Blanc – Tokara Reserve 2018
There is an amazing freshness as the wine enters the palate, with fresh citrus, grapefruit flavours leading to a creamy mid-palate and a lingering crisp finish.
Noble Late Harvest – Tokara 2017
The wine enters the palate with a sweet honey character which develops into that of dried figs, apricots and quince. This all leads to a finish which is not at all sweet and clawing, but surprisingly dry with a slight grip of tannins which help to finish the wine beautifully.
Continue reading original post – The 40th Anniversary Edition of the Best-Selling Annual
