100 Years of Alto, and the Song Remains the Same

As in all art, nothing can ever be perfect in the wine world. But Alto Estate does come impossibly close.

Location, yes. Alto lies on the slopes of Stellenbosch’s Helderberg, one of the patches of God’s earth that manages to combine spine-tinglingly magnificent scenery with geography and geology that is ideal for the growing of grapevines. It is mountain granite from the Cape’s Fold belt that has been ground down over the past 1,5 million years, iron-rich and red and rocky, and lovely soil for wine vines to get stuck in.
Continue reading

Enjoyed this article?

Subscribe and never miss a post again.

Loading

Homeward Bound to the Slopes of Alto Estate

With all the steely Sauvignon Blanc wine I drank in New Zealand it amazed me that no airport metal-detectors were activated on the long way home. Although there was a tense moment at Dubai International when a surly, garlic-breathed member of the security staff had to twice pass the hand-held scanner over my left kidney to ensure I was not carrying a harmful object aimed at unleashing some glamourous Middle-East terror.

Continue reading

Enjoyed this article?

Subscribe and never miss a post again.

Loading