Winter is often associated with looking back and the habit of reflection. Almost halfway through the year, we like to assess where we are and where we’re headed. Perhaps the darker months awaken a trace of hibernation in our DNA. Nonetheless, we might do our pondering alone, or reflect with friends during a fireside chat, a bold red wine in hand (of course).

Award-winning wine

For us at Bonnievale Wines, there was the harvest of grapes and another haul of medals. Just this week, the Bonnievale Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 was awarded Double Platinum at the National Wine Challenge and crowned as one of its Top 100 SA Wines of the year. At the same competition, our Bonnievale Limited Release Chardonnay 2021 claimed Double Gold. 

There was the launch of our new website and online shop too, which makes it even easier to get the wine you want. 

Reflection & looking back

“Harvest was completed successfully – something we never take for granted,” our chief winemaker Marthinus Rademeyer says, looking back at the half-year behind us. “Our yield of grapes was good!

“The winery had a 13% saving on electricity to date, which is a milestone and environmentally friendly too.” 

Furthermore, the team managed to have this year’s harvest of Chenin and Sauvignon blanc bottled by April, “the earliest ever,” Marthinus declares.

But there’s more to the word than its moody vibe of looking to the past. 

See the mirror

Indeed, reflection also refers to the sparkle of a place. It’s in the shimmer from those bright and shiny awards, and the stainless-steel tanks and pipes in the winery. It’s also in the tasting lounge at Bonnievale Wines for example. You might not see it at first but pour a glass of Bonnievale Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon and sit at one of our outdoor tables for a while. Reflection is everywhere. 

A gentle sunlight glints off the fountain streams and large windows of the tasting room. It even lingers on the leaves of our courtyard copse before casting its warmth to the observer below.

The everlasting echo

Seen this way, light is ever moving; the silver thread between the wine, vineyards of Bonnievale and wherever a glass is poured. To us, reflection is as much about the past as it is about the future. And what a future it promises to be!

You may get a sense of it in our early bottlings of the season’s wines, like the latest vintage Sauvignon Blanc. You will surely experience it in the older vintages too, which after all express themselves in a particular way depending on the year they’re uncorked.

Reflect this!

If you’re looking to supplement your collection of wines from Bonnievale, consider purchasing our special case of Bonnievale Winter Reds. It comprises the Bonnievale River Collection Pinotage 2020, Merlot 2021, Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2020, Shiraz 2020, Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 and Sweet Shiraz. 

Thrown in for free is a universe of reflection too!