Wine Wizard

Wine Wizard SA's authoritative wine site offering Michael Fridjhon's tasting notes, recommendations, news and more. www.winewizard.co.za

South Africa's foremost wine critic, Michael Fridjhon a.k.a. Wine Wizard, helps you every step of the way in choosing the right wine by offering tasting notes and scores, as well as food pairings, occasion recommendations and more. Use the magic wizard on www.winewizard.co.za or download the app for Apple and Android.

Michael Fridjhon wanders Cape vineyards with Brigid Hamilton-Russell (Red Tape: The Untold Story of a Visionary South Af...
19/05/2026

Michael Fridjhon wanders Cape vineyards with Brigid Hamilton-Russell (Red Tape: The Untold Story of a Visionary South African’s Battle Against Bureaucracy, and The Birth of a World-Renowned Wine Region) and Emile Joubert (Meerlust: Beyond the Rubicon) at this year’s Kingsmead Book Fair in Johannesburg on the 23rd of May.

Join Michael Fridjhon and Bridgid Hamilton-Russell at the Franschhoek Literary Festival as they unpack the remarkable st...
22/04/2026

Join Michael Fridjhon and Bridgid Hamilton-Russell at the Franschhoek Literary Festival as they unpack the remarkable story of Tim Hamilton-Russell and the legacy of Hamilton Russell vineyards, blending biography, history, legal challenges, political obstacles and family heritage through an insider’s view in the first book to chronicle the Hemel-en-Aarde wine region.

Book your tickets now by visiting flf.co.za or webtickets.co.za

The 2026 vintage is largely in the cellars, so for producers in many of the major regions, there is at least an air of c...
21/03/2026

The 2026 vintage is largely in the cellars, so for producers in many of the major regions, there is at least an air of certainty around the outcome.

Those growers located in the earlier ripening areas may even be planning their post-vintage breaks; others, in cooler, later zones may be staring anxiously at the forecasts. Most will have dodged the twin risks of fire and smoke taint. A few will have been caught by sudden, quite massive downpours a few weeks back.

Read more on winewizard.co.za

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The number of serious wine commentators who believe in the value of blind tasting is in inverse proportion to the number...
03/03/2026

The number of serious wine commentators who believe in the value of blind tasting is in inverse proportion to the number of producers willing to entrust their brands to the process.

I sat down for an unsighted test of some of Eben Sadie’s latest releases along with an array of other wines to see if the palate agrees with the pedigree.

Read the full story on Winewizard.co.za

My working year involves sampling hundreds of wines every week, mostly blind. I never really engage with them as mature ...
21/02/2026

My working year involves sampling hundreds of wines every week, mostly blind. I never really engage with them as mature and fully formed: it’s not practical because whenever that might be – say ten years from now – none will be commercially available.

So I taste blind, analytically, separating emotion (as far as possible) from the intrinsics of what is in the glass.

Read more on winewizard.co.za

Visits of winemakers to Johannesburg are not everyday events, despite the fact that Gauteng is the biggest market in the...
13/02/2026

Visits of winemakers to Johannesburg are not everyday events, despite the fact that Gauteng is the biggest market in the world for Cape wine. This is a great pity for many reasons, not least of which is that when they occur, wine is opened and people seem to find the world a better place.

Read more on winewizard.co.za

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The Southern Hemisphere wine calendar year starts – with some leeway timing-wise – in much the same way for every wine p...
27/01/2026

The Southern Hemisphere wine calendar year starts – with some leeway timing-wise – in much the same way for every wine producing country south of the equator.

Depending on how far to the south the vineyards are, the harvest is more or less imminent. Naturally, this is a period of stress, even if conditions have been perfect up to this moment, things can change in an instant.

Read more about what’s on winewizard.co.za

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The festive season has come and gone, and all those products destined for sale at Christmas (or not all) are already beg...
20/01/2026

The festive season has come and gone, and all those products destined for sale at Christmas (or not all) are already beginning to gather dust on retailers’ shelves. Gift wrap, crackers, candles and holly have been transformed, in a matter of a few days, from objects of desire (or at least of commercial value, not to put too cynical an edge to this) to the slightly ta**ry décor of a bygone era.

You might assume the wine industry is largely inured from this seasonal hero-to-zero retail risk, but this might not be the case.

Read more about what’s on winewizard.co.za

Image by Niek Verlaan from Pixabay.

Once, fine-wine credibility was rooted in the soil you owned. Today, it’s increasingly defined by the soil you seek out....
19/11/2025

Once, fine-wine credibility was rooted in the soil you owned. Today, it’s increasingly defined by the soil you seek out.

On My Mind this week looks at how a new generation of winemakers is reshaping the Cape wine landscape - without owning a single vine

Read the full article on winewizard.co.za

Get the perfect gift for the wine lover in your life 🥂 🎁We're still taking orders on a great selection of titles from th...
17/11/2025

Get the perfect gift for the wine lover in your life 🥂 🎁

We're still taking orders on a great selection of titles from the Academie Du Vin Librarie. There will only be one shipment of these titles this year - don't leave it too late!

The full list of titles is available on winewizard.co.za

Make sure you place your orders by the 24th of November by emailing [email protected]

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Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 17:00

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