The following is an interview Charles had with leading South African wine journalist, Neil Pendock of the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa. The edited version will be found at :  http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=2223240 Charles Withington is a rare bird on the SA wine landscape: a negociant who buys wine from producers according to his palate and [...]

The Withington Merlot 2003 has just been voted by Caroline Rillema of Caroline’s Fine Wines as  one of her ‘special discoveries’. Apart from her retail outlets in Cape Town, Caroline also runs a wine club. The aim here is to allow members to sit back, while she selects the finest wines from across the globe. [...]

Further to my post about ever increasing alcohol levels in wines, I found a really great article on this subject.  The article is about Hugh Johnson, who apparently has lashed out at the trend of increasing alcohol levels in wine in the 30th anniversary edition of his Pocket Wine Book. He is quoted as saying: “Like human [...]

I was very fortunate last week to have a visit from John Avery MW (Master of Wine), one of the most senior of the UK Masters of Wine, and also head panellist on the South African Airways annual wine tasting. John is held in extremely high regard worldwide for his encyclopaedic knowledge of wine, and [...]