WeeklySA_AdminGLOBAL STAGE: Tim Atkin’s largest South Africa assessment yet crowns Sadie Family’s Columella with a perfect score, celebrates a new generation of winemakers and spreads honours from Calitzdorp to Durbanville, Paarl and Franschhoek…
By Len Maseko
South African wine has entered a more confident era, with established producers, young winemakers and distinctive regional styles sharing the honours in British critic Tim Atkin’s 14th annual South Africa Special Report.
The 2026 edition — Atkin’s most extensive yet — reviews 1 831 wines from more than 350 wineries and places the country’s best bottles firmly in the global fine-wine conversation. Seventeen wines scored 98 points and 33 earned 97, while 248 achieved 95 points or more across vintages from 2020 to 2025.
South Africa makes some of the greatest wines in the world.
It just needs to get the word out…
At the summit is the 2024 Sadie Family Columella, awarded a perfect 100 points and named Overall Red Wine of the Year. The Swartland flagship, led by Syrah and Mourvèdre with Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault and Tinta Barocca, is only the ninth South African wine to receive 100 points from Atkin since 2013. Columella’s 2019 vintage achieved the same distinction.
The 2025 Alheit Vineyards Huilkrans Chenin Blanc, from old vines on the Skurfberg mountain in Citrusdal, received 99 points and was named Overall White Wine of the Year. The result reinforces Atkin’s assessment that South Africa’s white wines, led by Chenin Blanc, are among the world’s best, while the country’s reds have undergone an equally impressive transformation over the past two decades. He identified Syrah as the Cape’s most successful red variety.
Beyond the headline scores, the report tells a broader story about people, resilience and the maturing of the so-called New Wave. Atkin said these producers had “come of age”, having become an important engine of change despite the economic and structural pressures facing the industry.
Storm Wines founder Hannes Storm was named Winemaker of the Year for precise, site-driven Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the three Hemel-en-Aarde sub-regions.
Lismore Estate Vineyards in Greyton became the inaugural Winery of the Year, recognising Samantha O’Keefe’s achievement in building a leading property over more than 20 vintages and recovering from a devastating 2019 fire.
Jolandie Fouché of Wolf & Woman Wines was named Young Winemaker of the Year, while Stefan Johannes of Zwartwater Estate took Rising Star honours. Stellenbosch father-and-daughter team Chris Steyn and Cató Rabie of Eendrag Farm were Growers of the Year. Pieter “Bubbles” Ferreira, who retired in January after 37 years at Graham Beck and a career that helped take Cap Classique to international audiences, received the Winemaking Legend award.
The results also delivered notable regional and producer successes. In Calitzdorp, Boplaas Family Vineyards secured Atkin’s Overall Fortified Wine of the Year title for a sixth consecutive year. Its rereleased 1996 Cape Vintage Reserve scored 97 points, while the limited 2006 Colheita 20 Year Old Tawny earned 96.
The awards underline the longevity of Cape fortified wines and Boplaas’s long relationship with Portuguese varieties. The family planted Tinta Barocca after vines ordered as Shiraz were mistakenly supplied in the 1970s. That accident helped shape a cellar now known for a drier, Portuguese-inspired style and for wines designed to develop over decades. Cellarmaster Carel Nel’s daughter, Margaux, now heads the winemaking team, carrying the tradition into another generation.
In Paarl, Brookdale Estate’s newly released 2025 Grenache Noir scored 95 points in its maiden vintage. All seven Brookdale wines reviewed achieved at least 92 points, including 94 for the 2024 Old Vine Project Chenin Blanc and the 2025 Twenty Field Blend.
Head winemaker Xander Sadie was also shortlisted in the Rising Star category, recognition of the early impact made by Sadie and assistant winemaker Shanice du Preez since joining the estate for the 2025 harvest.
Durbanville Hills reached its own landmark when the Sauvignon Blanc-led 2024 Tangram White earned the cellar’s first 95-point score from Atkin. Six other wines achieved 90 points or more, ranging from Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinotage.
Cellar-master Pieter-Niel Rossouw said the breadth of the showing affirmed both the winery’s consistency and Durbanville’s cool-climate terroir, shaped by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The Tangram White is due to feature in Atkin’s London public tasting in 2027.
The report’s reach extends beyond the bottle. Boschendal received the Wine Tourism Award for bringing together wine, food, accommodation, nature and heritage across its historic Franschhoek estate. The property welcomed 156 399 guests between July 2025 and June 2026 through experiences including cellar-door and Manor House tastings, picnics, markets, vineyard tours, dining and Wine & Wander Safaris.
Boschendal chief executive Amy Kropman described the honour as recognition of the teams who create a deeper connection between visitors and the estate’s wines, people and history. Brookdale was one of the four finalists for the tourism award.
Together, the honours depict an industry whose strength is no longer confined to a handful of famous labels or districts. Old vines, careful farming, regional identity, patient maturation and new talent run through the report, from a 30-year-old fortified wine in the Klein Karoo to a maiden Grenache in Paarl and a cool-climate white blend in Durbanville.
For producers, the report offers more than medals: it provides an independent benchmark for quality, a selling point in export markets and fresh evidence that the Cape’s combination of heritage, experimentation and diverse terroirs can compete confidently at the highest level on the global stage.
Atkin believes the historic 2025 harvest could prove a once-in-a-generation vintage and argues that the Cape must continue to champion excellence. His central message is both celebratory and challenging: South Africa already makes some of the world’s greatest wines, but must become better at telling that story to international drinkers.
