South Africa's Trophy Wine Show 2025

Paarlberg (‘pearl mountain’) is behind us, iridescent in the cool morning light where the water is running laminar down one of Paarl Rock’s enormous, bare granite boulders. It’s easy to see where it got its name from. We’re standing outside surrounded by the raucous, cacophonous honk of hadedas (a type of ibis), lush gardens and vivid flowers. The scarlet lick of hibiscus flowers derides us coffee-seeking humans from the leafy depths of their devil-may-care watches. I can hear the chshhh-chshhh-chshhhh of someone sweeping leaves off a brick-lined pathway. Some of us not smart enough...