De Grendel Excels in Tim Atkin Report

We’re celebrating! De Grendel wines raked in a fantastic eight 90-plus scores from respected wine commentator Tim Atkin MW in his 2022 South Africa Special Report, including an outstanding 94 points for our Op Die Berg Chardonnay 2021.

Atkin, a British Master of Wine, tasted his way through more than 2,200 wines for the tenth edition of his special report, which is highly regarded in the wine industry as an authoritative and independent review of the state of South African wine.

“Against formidable odds, South Africa is making some of the greatest wines in its history,” said Atkin. “Overall, I am extremely impressed with the quality of what I tasted in 2022, especially from the 2017 and 2021 vintages. I am more convinced than ever that 2017 deserves its place among the best-ever Cape harvests..."

Here at De Grendel, we agree. The accolades coming in over the past year for our wines demonstrate that we’ve reached a significant waypoint on our journey to consistent excellence in winemaking.

Our top-scoring wines in this year’s report are:

De Grendel Amandeboord Pinotage 2020 – 93 points

De Grendel Elim Shiraz 2019 – 91 points

De Grendel Op Die Berg Chardonnay 2021 – 94 points

De Grendel Op Die Berg Pinot Noir 2020 – 90 points

De Grendel Op Die Berg Syrah 2021 – 93 points

De Grendel Rubaiyat 2018 – 91 points

De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2022 – 91 points

De Grendel Winifred 2022 – 92 points 

Tim is “amazed by the remarkable progress” the country has made since his first report issued in 2013 and is urging producers “to take great pride in Brand South Africa”.