Ten best varietal wines from South Africa - The top ten

A baking summer's afternoon in south-west London was the setting for a South African focus tasting, concentrating on Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon, Pinotage and Rhone varietals. On the white side, the Chenins showed an interesting range of styles, from crisp and light, to rich and full, and the Sauvignons boasted a bit of diversity as well. While 28 degree heat is not the ideal environment for tasting big, New World reds, there were some really quite good Pinotages on show, and South Africa is clearly still going great guns with its Syrah.