Human, not corporate, independent wines.

 

Short Reads

• The wine world in 2020.
• And the award goes to… Safriel House.
• Thank you and last chance for holiday deliveries

Wines in 2020

A question we are asked often is: “How has 2020 affected Safriel House?”. Most of our sales were to the restaurant trade, so we have had to pivot. That has meant more contact with independent wine stores and with you our customers, which we love. We have managed a few socially distant events which were very successful but are looking forward to more in 2021. Travelling to the vineyards has been a challenge. For instance, instead of the suspended nonstop option to Cape Town, one route would have taken us from New York to Doha, Qatar continuing to Dar es Salaam on the East Coast of Africa, then to the former island state of Zanzibar, connecting to Johannesburg and finally to Cape Town.
More broadly speaking, 2020 has seen the price of Napa, French and Italian wines sharply higher. According to the NY Times, Tariffs alone are not to blame for this: sports players photographed sipping Grand Cru’s or Napa wines coupled with demand from Chinese consumers (a Napa Cab seems to be the ‘thing’ in the Peoples Republic in 2020) have put these wines out of reach for most of us who didn’t stock up 10 years ago. This is NOT a problem, however. It is an opportunity to discover and enjoy wines like Safriel House, which offer terrific quality (see awards below!) and provide excellent value.

 

We didn’t set out to make wines just to win awards, but its sure is nice to win them.

At the 2020 USA Sommeliers Choice Awards, we received gold awards for every one of our entries and the Sauvignon Blanc was also listed in the top 100 wines for 2020. This award show is for the trade by the trade: Tasted blind to identify wines best suited to restaurant wine lists and that pair well with food. While the pandemic has hit the restaurant trade, the pairability of our wines with food works just as well when you cook at home. We also collected awards internationally: The London based Tim Atkin, MW awarded our Chenin Blanc 90 points in the annual review of South African Wines. Our Reserve Cabernet rounded off our award winning year in Hong Kong at the Cathay Pacific International Wine and Spirits Competition. Our aim is to make wines that showcase exceptional vineyards with sustainable, innovative and minimal intervention winemaking techniques. The awards bestowed in competitions around the world give us confidence that our wines will be a hit at any event and can be paired with many dishes, whether at home or in a restaurant.

 

Thank You and Last Call For Holiday Shopping

We wanted to thank all of you from the bottom of our heart for supporting us this year. If you have run out of wines or if you haven't got around to buying your holiday wines yet, head on down to your local independent wine store or contact us and we will tell you where to go. There is a Safriel House wine for every meal or party and the stunning labels make for a great gift if you are invited to dinner or for friends and family.

 

We always love to hear back from you so let us know where and when you have enjoyed our wines or post them on Instagram or Facebook and tag us @safrielhouse or #safrielhouse. As always, there is lots more about our wines at our virtual cellar door at www.safrielhouse.com

 

All the best,

Lynne and Yair