Happy birthday Fortunato Mazzone, best Italian restaurateur in Pretoria. We drank a fortified toast to Forti last night at the last RECM Best Value tasting of the year. A weekly social event at the Taj Hotel that has transformed from a free wine festival into a cultural soiree with a very classy band of regulars (below). London restaurateurs like Mogens, fine art evaluators like Emma, lawyers like Robert, whisky wonks like Bernard… an enticing collection of beautiful city people. All very grown up and twink free.

The theme for our last tasting was fortifieds and stickies and the top scoring six were:

Boplaas Cape Tawny Vintners Reserve score 17.70 price R150.00 value R175.36
Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc Noble Late Harvest 2010 score 17.10 price R135.00 value R173.33
Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2013 score 17.00 price R82.00 value R169.00
Boplaas Cape Tawny score 16.30 price R95.00 value R162.89
De Krans Cape Vintage 2012 score 16.10 price R78.00 value R155.33
Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve 2010 score 16.00 price R175.00 value R141.35

confirming just how tight is the stranglehold of Calitzdorp on the fortified world and how on the ball are the winemaking teams at Nederburg and Mulderbosch. Waving our RECM magic wand, the six best buys are:

Boplaas Muscadel 2014 score 15.80 price R52.00 value R108.86
Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2013 score 17.00 price R82.00 value R169.00
De Krans Cape Vintage 2012 score 16.10 price R78.00 value R155.33
Slanghoek Red Muscadel 2014 score 15.70 price R47.00 value R88.93
Landskroon Cape Vintage 2011 score 16.00 price R77.00 value R141.35
Boplaas Cape Tawny score 16.30 price R95.00 value R162.89

which brings the two good value brands of Slanghoek and Landskroon into contention. Is there any doubt that South Africa makes stunning wines in these two styles?