Platter’s South African Wine Guide 2017, by Philip van Zyl

Platter’s South African Wine Guide 2017, by Philip van Zyl. 37th edition, Hermanus, South Africa 2017. ISBN 9780987004666 / ISBN 978-0-9870046-6-6

Platter’s South African Wine Guide 2017 is an annual guide to cellars, vineyards, winemakers, restaurants and accommodation in the wine regions of South Africa. Philip van Zyl is the chief editor of South Africa's most relevant wine guide.

Philip van Zyl  

This 37th edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide is the first since the 19th to have a sibling guide available in the market concurrently. Back in 1999 we offered advice on what to see, do and taste around the winelands in a volume titled Travelling In Cape Wine Country. Now we're focusing on the young and young-at-heart who are starting out on their journey into wine, and answering the basic questions most novices have about the daunting-seeming world of wine. Published in full colour, attractively presented and written in a style that's'light-tripping but not frivolous'(to borrow from a Platter's tasting note), Everything You Wanted To Know About Wine But Were Too Afraid To Ask is intended to demystify, de-snobbify and generally get you up to speed with the fundamentals, all in 180 edutaining pages. With this, our comprehensive guide, the longstanding aim and approach remain that of tasting, rating and describing as many as possible South African-made wines available during the currency of the book, both locally and overseas. The rankings reflected in these pages are the result of a process beginning towards the end of June, when we mobilise our team of tasters. The results of their work are reflected in the A-Z section, along with news about the wineries and winemakers (and distilleries and distillers), general information about products, vinification facilities, vineyards, amenities available to visitors and more. (Scores for all wines in the A-Z are also listed separately for convenience in the section named This Year's Ratings Summarised, on page 548.) For visitors in search of wine-route information, we've incorporated GPS coordinates for as many as possible of the wineries open to the public at set hours or by appointment. The maps have again been fully updated, along with the quick-lookup tables which furnish key visitor information about the wineries of a particular area, such as whether or not they are open on weekends and public holidays, offer meals or refreshments, specifically cater for children, or are friendly to individuals with reduced mobility. Our wine ranking system remains the same as last year. We cover the full spectrum, from wines we consider'somewhat less than ordinary' (and award 0 stars, equivalent to 50-59 on the 100-point scale) to'superlative South African classics', worthy of a full 5 stars (95-100 points). Wines rated **** or higher are usually listed first in each entry. Vintages deviating from the general rating are individually starred in the text. Very good/promising wines and more modest examples (*** or fewer) are included in the'run-on'listings at the end of entries. Good-value wines are highlighted with the 0 icon for easy identification. Interesting, attractive, unusual, unique or otherwise particularly noteworthy Hidden Gems are flagged with this icon: ®. See also How to Use the Guide on page 20. Because of deadlines, many wines in the guide are tasted freshly bottled or as works-in-progress; any considered unrateable as a result are noted as such in the text. It's worth mentioning that we taste from the end of June to end-August. Except for the bottlings assessed for five stars, all wines are tasted 'sighted' (with labels exposed) and the name of the producer known. [...]

This is an excerpt from Platter’s South African Wine Guide 2017, by Philip van Zyl.

Title: Platter’s South African Wine Guide 2017
Subtitle: The Guide to cellars, vineyards, winemakers, restaurants and accommodation
Editor: Philip van Zyl
Associate editors: Joanne Gibson, Tim James, Cathy van Zyl
Publisher: Jean-Pierre Rossouw
Publisher: John Platter SA Wineguide (Pty) Ltd
37th edition, Hermanus, South Africa 2017
ISBN 9780987004666 / ISBN 978-0-9870046-6-6
Hardcover, 11 x 20 cm, 664 pages, several map inserts, colour photos and tables, text: English