The largest selection of wines from the Cape

Frau steht lächelnd vor einem Regal mit Weinflaschen und schaut sich zwei Flaschen, die sie in den Händen hält genauer an

Are you looking for a very special wine? Then you've come to the right place! Here you will find around 1400 top wines from South Africa and 500 high-calibre wines from Portugal. Whether from the southernmost tip of the African continent or from the small country in the far west of Europe - what both wine-growing countries have in common are their unconventional and original wines. We also have a small but fine range of Italian wines for you, with exciting wines from South Tyrol to Sicily. Choose from the diversity of our large range and be inspired!

Portuguese winemakers focus on tradition and modernity

Long forgotten are the days when Portuguese wines took second place on the wine shelves. Today, the wine country of Portugal is often referred to as the "New World of the Old World". Portuguese winegrowers combine the best of both worlds: A new awareness of quality and modern technology paired with traditional Portuguese winemaking methods.

Classic and rare Portuguese wines

A new generation of dynamic and young Portuguese winemakers is focusing on fruity wines with a strong body, unmistakable flavour and outstanding quality. Today, Portugal is not only known for its classic port and Madeira wines, but also for exceptional white wines, red wines, sparkling wines and rosés. Colares is an extremely rare wine in Portugal, which is still grown with European vines in the sand north of Sintra in Colares near the Atlantic coast.

Native grape varieties make the difference

Around 500 indigenous grape varieties, known as castas, are responsible for the typical and unique flavour of Portuguese wines. They only thrive in Portugal. Their diversity characterises Portuguese wine and makes it unique.

South Africa's beautiful vineyards

South Africa is one of the most exciting wine countries in the world today and its wine-growing regions are among the most beautiful. The gateway to South Africa's vineyards, which are almost exclusively located in the Western Cape province, is Cape Town. From here, the vineyards stretch between 27 and 34 degrees south latitude and are rarely more than 50 kilometres from the coast. The proximity to the oceans ensures a moderate maritime climate and therefore optimal conditions for winegrowing.

Special terroir ensures a variety of flavours

The special South African terroir characterises wines with an enormous variety of flavours. South African wine stands for a full-bodied and savoury red wine as well as a heavy, fruity white wine. South Africa's winegrowers also score highly with wine lovers when it comes to sustainability. They recognised early on how important it is to protect the environment and developed control systems that make the process from vine to bottle transparent.

Boutique wineries with exclusive wines

South Africa's boutique wineries stand for particularly exclusive top wines. In these small family businesses, only small quantities of wine are produced in the smallest of spaces. Often, only a handful of different wines are produced in South African boutique wineries, sometimes even just a single wine. Many of these exclusively produced wines are raved about by wine critics and have won numerous awards for their producers.

Italy means "wine"

Italy is THE country of wine par excellence. Italy, "Oinotria" in Greek, means nothing other than wine. Italy got its name from the Hellenes in pre-Christian times. The country can therefore look back on almost three millennia of wine culture and it is above all the great diversity of wine regions, wine styles and not least the grape varieties that characterise Italian wine culture. Around 2000 different grape varieties have been recorded in the Italian boot, of which around 400 can be used for wine production.

Concentrated, rustic wines

The vines are the great wealth of the wine country, which produces very concentrated, rustic wines from South Tyrol to Sicily. In the cooler climate of the north, the wines have a lot of acidity and herbal notes like Prosecco, Pinot Grigio or Soave. Central Italian wines such as Lambrusco, Chianti or Supertuscan can boast high acidity, ripe fruit and tonic notes. In the hot climate of the south and on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, the grapes for Vermentino, Primitivo or Marsala thrive, which delight with sweet fruit and leathery notes.

Secret wine language

Here we have compiled a small glossary for you, with the most common wine terms. These should help you to understand the special language of wine.

Destemming - manual plucking of berries from stems before fermentation

Finish - the aftertaste of a wine that remains on the tongue after swallowing

Settling - natural process in which suspended matter and undesirable substances in the wine settle to the bottom

Racking - the process of removing the sediment from clarified wine by pumping it into another container

Astringent - a furry feeling on the tongue, especially in wines with a high tannin content

Affinage - Extra ageing in the bottle before the wine is sold

Enrichment - addition of sugar to increase the alcohol content, occurs before fermentation

Aroma - typical flavour and aroma of a wine

Fortification - high-proof alcohol is added to the must to stop fermentation and increase the alcohol content, e.g. port wine, Madeira, sherry

Ageing - Ageing refers to all work in the wine cellar from fermentation to bottling

Bag in Box (BIB) - A "bag" in a cardboard box into which wine is poured and tapped off again using a tap

Barrique - small oak barrel with a capacity of 225 litres, used for ageing red or white wines

Malolactic fermentation - a process in which the naturally pungent malic acid of young wine is converted into milder lactic acid by bacterial cultures. This process is also known as secondary fermentation, as it usually follows the first alcoholic fermentation, although it is not a fermentation in the true sense of the word. This apple-lactic acid conversion serves to increase flavour complexity and reduce excess acidity in the wine.

Blend - also known as a cuvée, usually in connection with Bordeaux blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot Blind tasting Wine tasting with covered bottles

Dregs / sediment - deposit of tannins and colouring in the bottle, can be prevented from ending up in the glass by decanting

Botrytis Cinerea - noble rot that attacks grapes and causes a typical odour and taste

Brut - term for dry sparkling wines

Bouquet - aroma of a wine

Bulk - term for bulk wine

Cuvée - blend of high-quality wines

Disgorging - removing the yeast from the wine

Degustation - wine tasting

Decanting - Careful decanting from the bottle into a carafe to enrich the wine with oxygen

Fermented through - all the sugar has been converted into alcohol, no residual sweetness

Destemming - removal of the stems

Yield - harvest quantity

Extra Brut - driest version of sparkling wine

Filtration - technique by which solids are separated from the wine using filters

Firn - aged flavour

Bottle fermentation - method of sparkling wine production, takes place in the bottle

Bottle ageing - time at which a wine has matured

Fermentation - process in wine production in which sugar is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide and must becomes wine

Gewächs - synonym for wines

Yeast - microorganisms, some of which have the ability to ferment grape juice

Vintage - term for the year in which the grapes for a wine were grown

Jeroboam - bottle with 4.5 litres

Pressing - pressing the grape juice before fermentation

Clone - Vines that have been propagated by a genetically identical mother plant

Cork defect - impairment of the wine due to a defective cork (the cork has a disease)

Magnum - 1.5 litre bottle

Mash - Mash of grape skins, seeds and stems Red wines are fermented on the mash

Mash heating - before fermentation, the mash is heated to approx. 70°C to release colouring substances from the skins; rarely used for high-quality wines

Must - unfermented grape juice

Nose - general odour impression

Oenology - term for wine science

Oxidation - chemical reaction in which the wine has come into contact with too much oxygen; the wine loses freshness and colour

Reduction - opposite of oxidation, chemical reaction that takes place under airtight conditions and produces particularly fresh and aromatic wines

Residual sugar - sugar that remains after fermentation, results in the natural residual sweetness

Rüttelpult - a wooden rack used in sparkling wine production in the traditional bottle fermentation process (e.g. for champagne), in which the bottles are turned by hand at regular intervals so that the sediment moves from the bottom to the neck of the bottle, which is then removed during disgorgement (removal of the yeast by immersing the neck of the bottle in ice)

Acidity - gives the wine longevity and vibrancy

Sulphur - is widely used in viticulture to protect the vines, sterilise the barrels and preserve the wine

Stabilisation - the state reached when the wine has been freed from all unwanted particles and turbidity

Tannin - tannins in wine with an astringent effect, important for the ageing of wine, degrades over time

Pomace - solid grape residue, in white wine after pressing, in red wine after fermentation

Pomace cap - layer of grape skins and other solids floating on the surface of the container during red wine fermentation; it must be repeatedly submerged and mixed with the must

Typicity - typical expression of a wine, especially for a terroir, the site on which it grows

Pumping over - used during the fermentation of red wines to keep the cap of marc in the must

Vegetal - term for wines with unripe, green, vegetative notes

Blending - blending grapes or wines of different varieties to emphasise the positive characteristics of each individual blending partner

Strengthening - enriching with alcohol to stop fermentation and increase the alcohol content of the wines

Vinification - winemaking from the moment the grapes are delivered until they are bottled

Tartar - crystals that settle on the bottom of a wine bottle, caused by the breakdown of acidity in the wine; not a reason for complaint as it does not reduce the quality of the wine