Platter’s by Diners Club Wine Guide has revealed the eagerly awaited and prestigious list of wines earning the maximum rating of five stars in the new 2022 edition. The unveiling coincides with the launch of the guide on Platter’s digital platforms – the apps for iOS/Apple and Android, and the website.
Wines receiving the sought-after five-star rating in Platter’s must undergo a rigo-rous process of sighted and blind assessment (i.e. with and without sight of the label) by a team of experienced experts. Bottlings that are judged to be “Superlative, a South African classic” are given the highest ranking of five stars, equal to 95 points or better on the 100-point rating scale.
The 234 wines that achieve this distinction in the 2022 edition cover the full spectrum of winemaking styles and approaches across 28 different categories. Red and White Blends are the biggest classes, as in previous editions, with 46 and 27 individual labels respectively. Chenin Blanc, which has made remarkable strides in terms of quality lately, is the next-biggest category, with 27 exceptional wines.
Chardonnay performs particularly well this year, with 19 bottlings originating in a diverse range of sites. Another strong performer is Cabernet Sauvignon, with 15 wines, the overwhelming majority of which come from the Stellenbosch area.
Reflected in the five-star line-up are many of the key trends shaping South African wine today, such as the revival and reinterpretation of traditional varieties such as Cinsault and Colombard; red wines with lighter textures and lower alcohol; and the use of clay and concrete vessels as alternatives to oak for fermentation and/or ageing.
“Another relatively recent development, which partly accounts for the rising number of five-star wines, is ‘deconstruction’, where different clones of the same grape variety are bottled separately,” says Philip van Zyl, acting managing director and editor of Platter’s.
“Sometimes not just different clones, but also different sites within an estate are produced and released separately, to showcase the terroir. The Pinot Noir category is an example of this phenomenon, with a single producer releasing four wines from four clones and four sites, each with its personality and nuance, and each worthy of a five-star rating.”
