Blaauwklippen is widely regarded as the South-African market leader when it comes to the production of Zinfandel, a grape varietal that enjoys immense popularity in the USA.   The 6th annual Blaauwklippen International Zinfandel tasting took place at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Cape Town on Thursday 7 March 2013. …

Blaauwklippen Wine Estate in Stellenbosch first planted the variety Zinfandel in 1978. From this bush vine vineyard, then winemaker Walter Finlayson won the Diner’s Club Winemaker of the year Award in 1981 for the 1980 Blaauwklippen Zinfandel — quite an achievement for a variety virtually unheard of in the Cape. …

Last week Blaauwklippen hosted its sixth International Zinfandel Tasting, this year choosing to compare its Zinfandel wines against four from Australia. The thirty or so wine writers attending judged the Blaauwklippen Zinfandel Reserve to be better than the Australian counterparts. The tasting was led by Rolf Zeitvogel, Cellarmaster and CEO …

Imagine using Zinfandel grapes, a variety from Italy (Primativo) better known in California, and Malbec, a French variety, better known in Argentina. Then, having tried and discarded Cabernet Sauvignon as a botrytised Noble Late Harvest, imagine turning Zinfandel into a desert wine with some 140grams of Residual Sugar and maybe …

Ever a stranger on most shores, Blaauwklippen’s is a stand-out local version. It is in the nature of adventurous (and talented) winemakers (and artists) to explore beyond the obvious. And other that all those strangely-named grape varieties that are now coming into fashion in our wine country, zinfandel is the …