Michael Fridjhon weekly

Michael Fridjhon's deep involvement with wine – particularly South African wine – goes back more than three decades. In that time he has developed an international reputation as an industry critic, as a wine writer, as a consultant, as something of an entrepreneur, and as a wine judge and convenor of judging panels. His articles here are reproduced from the national daily, Business Day (to which he has been contributing a weekly column, under the simple heading 'Wine', for a number of years), and from The Weekender. They appear here courtesy of the author and the newspapers. 

We keep the columns for approximately three months before deleting them.

•    Transcending the boundaries The adventurous approach is working well at Solms-Delta and elsewhere

•    Warming to the sweeter side of life Climate change, dessert wines and what to eat with them

•    Pinotage moves on Many examples give pleasure with finesse

•    Differing grape expectations  There are similarities between Bordeaux and the Cape when it comes to the bigtime and smalltime producers

•    Big brands and terroir Two means to getting South African wine taken seriously internationally

•    Sweet offerings to fortify your cellar Fortified or not, there are some fine local wines for dessert and thereafter

•    The rising cost of foreign drinks  What does a sliding rand mean for those who enjoy spirits or wine from elsewhere?

•    Red blends we know, now watch out for the whites No longer are blended wines the burial ground for bad wine

•    The crowd at the starting blocks  Which of today's little-known newcomer wineries will track the likes of Thelema?

•    There are unsung heroes behind the great labels  Nick Diemont’s trackrecord bodes well for Strandveld Vineyards

•    The 'burnt rubber' factor There's something there, but it's not (yet) affecting sales

•    Nederburg: the rebirth of a South African icon 

•    Bridging quality and aesthetic judgement Some results of the Trophy Wine Show

•    A little more warmth might not be too bad for Cape wine Just so long as global warming doesn’t mean less water

•    Moving away from cork closures The South African market seems to be increasingly welcoming of screwcaps

•    Cape reds — ageing gracefully despite the naysayers A tasting of some seriously good (and seriously mature) wines

•    Two significant releases from venerable properties New releases from Meerlust and Zandvliet

•    A drubbing about dirty wines leaves a bad odour Is there cause for alarm about Cape reds?

•    Durbanville – and other – pleasures Good value wines, especially sauvignon, from Durbanville Hills and elsewhere

•    The dangers of drinking and the absurdities of health ministers Together with some observations on sneezing

•    What makes for cheap and expensive wines? And a note on a few good bargains at the lower end

•    Evaluating producers’ pricing pretensions Bordeaux’s the grand case, but what of the ambitious South Africans?

•    The French are here A surprising number have staked a claim and invested in Cape wine

•    Matching the winemaking style to the drinker 

•    The cool-climate pleasures of Elgin And now a particularly sexy Pinot Noir

•    Moderating the taste for, and of, oak As the price of new barrels gets exorbitant, chips and staves, better fruit and wine aesthetics make them less necessary

•    Blended whites Two styles, two trend-setting examples from Vergelegen and Sadie Family

•    Bubbling, boiling, toiling, but not much trouble  Some talk about yeast

•    Foreign aid The declining rand gives welcome relief to wine exporters

•    Cheers to French imports lubricating the lean times Big-brand producer Chenet impresses

•    A blow for the industry The departure of Kader Asmal will be regretted by many – but not all

•    A winery (as well as a restaurant) doing something new In Stanford, Springfontein's approach is dramatically different

•    Venturing beyond the heartland Adventure comes not only from the far-flung wine regions, but also
'rediscovered' ones - from Constantia to the Swartland

•    There’s plenty of life in the (better) old whites yet Even some sauvignon blancs can benefit from ageing

•    The art of blending reds From Anwilka's shiraz with cabernet, to the ‘Bordeaux blends’ of the Calyon Trophy

•    The boom times might have returned with a declining rand But there are some imponderables – including a problematic harvest