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Going for gold
South African wine producers have bagged a load of gold – and platinum – medals in international competitions in the past few weeks.
Going for gold
South African wine producers have bagged a load of gold – and platinum – medals in international competitions in the past few weeks.
The Decanter World Wine Awards is considered one of the most authoritative and prestigious competitions globally. In 2023 it attracted 18 250 entries and two South African wines featured in its Top 50 list of the Best in Show which is no mean feat.
Le Riche, a renowned Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon producer, was delighted that its Le Riche Reserve 2020 was deemed one of the best Cabernets in the competition while Iona of Elgin’s Highlands Chardonnay 2021 was one of the best Chardonnays.
A further four wines were awarded platinum medals: Neil Ellis Whitehall Chardonnay 2021, Diemersdal The Journal Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Bellingham The Founder’s Series Freda 2021 White Blend and the 2018 vintage of Rust en Vrede 1694 classification Red Blend. A tally of 30 gold medals were also awarded.
At the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles competition, South Africa won three grand gold medals and 28 golds. The highest honour of grand gold went to Kleine Zalze of Stellenbosch for its 2020 Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, Cederberg Five Generations Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 and the third big winner was Pongracz with the Desiderius Brut Sparkling Wine.
Brewing Silver
In Swedish folk tales and mythology silver bullets were believed to be the solution to despatching a host of nasty creatures. There’s also a common misconception that vampires are susceptible to them too.
Brewing Silver
In Swedish folk tales and mythology silver bullets were believed to be the solution to despatching a host of nasty creatures. There’s also a common misconception that vampires are susceptible to them too. Not so, that’s the remedy for taking care of a werewolf! But there’s a new shade of silver which has beer lovers rejoicing.
It’s been Heineken’s biggest new product launch in a decade: Heineken Silver.
Many are the beer enthusiast who has asked what the difference is between standard Heineken and the new silver beer. The ingredients don’t differ but the process has been tweaked. The difference is in the ice-cold lagering process which sees the temperature dropped to -1˚C which results in cold haze forming – and then filtered out.
The result is a crisp flavour with balanced bitterness, extra refreshment and a smooth subtle finish with its 4% alcohol by volume level retained.
A slice of the action
Cape Town pizzeria Ferdinando’s in Observatory will have to start detaching itself from the title of SA’s favourite pizzeria as the annual Porcupine Ridge Pizzeria Challenge kicks off this month.
A slice of the action
Cape Town pizzeria Ferdinando’s in Observatory will have to start detaching itself from the title of SA’s favourite pizzeria as the annual Porcupine Ridge Pizzeria Challenge kicks off this month.
Having won its 2022 title with the most votes, Italian owner Diego Milesi warned all other pizzerias nationwide that he was entering again! “More people are getting passionate about pizza so I think the competition will only get tougher. We are in it for the long run and hope we continue to be blessed.”
Lynton Kaiser, spokesman for competition sponsor, wine brand Porcupine Ridge, said: “Last year’s competition was stiff, and the rivalry fierce but friendly. With 95 establishments challenging each other for the top prize, we had competing sisters and competing brothers, all of whom made the top 10 as well as the first KwaZulu-Natal pizzeria to make the top 5!
“We’re confident of more entries this year and that the competition will be even more intense while still remaining loads of fun.”
The rules remain the same, with the public voting for their favourite local pizzeria via a dedicated voting website (www.votepizza.wine). The restaurant with the most votes will be crowned South Africa's favourite pizzeria, picking up the ultimate bragging rights as well as wine and marketing collateral to the value of R40 000.
Here’s the important bit: consumers also win! By voting they can win weekly product prizes while one lucky voter will take home an EarthFire Tabletop pizza oven, pizza for a year from their favourite pizzeria and 30 bottles of Porcupine Ridge wine – a prize worth R8 000!
The competition runs between July and September.
Celebrating, French style
Franschhoek is a town which celebrates all things food and wine – possibly because of its French Huguenot origins.
Celebrating, French style
Franschhoek is a town which celebrates all things food and wine – possibly because of its French Huguenot origins. So it’s only natural that every year it marks the occasion of the Bastille festivities on the appropriate weekend in mid-July.
The Boland town will be festooned with tricolores in red, white and blue and be a hive of activity on the weekend of 15 and 16 July.
As an important artery for traffic, the main road has to remain open but there will be musicians, street performers and magicians lining it. Everyone in the Franschhoek Wine Valley pulls out all the stops and the buzz in the town is palpable.
It’s a great opportunity to get away for a weekend, visit wine farms and local restaurants and just soak up the quasi-French atmosphere.
Anyone wanting to know more about the programme of events should visit the Franschhoek Wine Valley website: https://franschhoek.org.za/event/franschhoek-bastille-festival/ or buy tickets to attend through webtickets.
“New” addition for Meerlust
Meerlust is one of South Africa’s most recognisable names as its Rubicon was among the country’s first-ever Bordeaux-style blends produced.
“New” addition for Meerlust
Meerlust is one of South Africa’s most recognisable names as its Rubicon was among the country’s first-ever Bordeaux-style blends produced. Since the early 80s, the plan was for Rubicon to be unwavering in its quality. If it wasn’t good enough, it wasn’t Rubicon.
1985 was the first time then cellar chief, Giorgio Dalla Cia, declassified it and released a blended wine simply known as Meerlust Red.
A wet and disease prone 2002 vintage saw it happen a second time. But it created a problem, particularly in the all-important export markets which demanded Meerlust Red every year! So Meerlust caved to international demand and made the Red for overseas audiences only.
As Meerlust marketing manager Eddie Turner said: “The popularity of the Meerlust Red in these markets, along with its availability as a declassified Rubicon locally, led us to include this wine as a permanent fixture in the Meerlust range, starting with the 2020 vintage.”
It’s a decision that reflects not only the wine's popularity but also the estate's commitment and focus on nurturing young vineyards. Meerlust has replanted vineyard extensively over the past few years. Until the vines reach the maturity and quality required for Rubicon, Turner said these vineyards would be used for the Red.
So Meerlust Red will comprise solely estate-grown grapes, rather than fruit sourced elsewhere. The 2020 Red is made up of near equal parts of merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon with an eight percent dash of petit verdot.
Old – but young
It was in February 1659 that Jan van Riebeeck diarised the words that pinned down South Africa’s winemaking start date: “Today, praise be to God, grapes were crushed at the Cape of Good Hope.”
Old – but young
It was in February 1659 that Jan van Riebeeck diarised the words that pinned down South Africa’s winemaking start date: “Today, praise be to God, grapes were crushed at the Cape of Good Hope.”
So it’s somewhat surprising to know that some elements of the local wine scene are still relatively young – like the Wine of Origin system. It was only 50 years ago, in 1973, that this landmark initiative was legally formulated.
Nowadays, South Africa’s Wine of Origin (WO) system – with attendant traceability – is recognised as one of the best in the world.
Early in June a commemorative event was held at Groot Constantia to mark this anniversary and wines from the first 14 wine estates ever were showcased. It was noted that without these pioneering estates the local industry would not be the international force it is today.
The first 14 recognised by the legislation and published in the Government Gazette in August 1973 were: Alto, Backsberg, Groot Constantia, Meerendal, Middelvlei, Montpellier, Muratie, Neethlingshof, Overgaauw, Simonsig, Theuniskraal, Twee Jonge Gezellen, Uiterwyk and Verdun (now Asara).
All of these producers now proudly display a special logo on labels, websites and marketing material, heralding them as the originals and recognising the significance of the 50th anniversary of estate wines in South Africa.
Cheers to world class brandy
The World Brandy Awards announced that Van Ryn’s 15 year old pot still brandy was the World’s Best Wine Brandy – the second time in a row the Stellenbosch distillery has been awarded this honour.
Cheers to world-class brandy
The World Brandy Awards announced that Van Ryn’s 15 year old pot still brandy was the World’s Best Wine Brandy – the second time in a row the Stellenbosch distillery has been awarded this honour.
In this category, South African spirits took the lion’s share of the accolades with 16 medals and awards, beating France into second place and Australia, the USA and Canada into the minor placings.
Viceroy 5 Year Old and Van Ryn’s 10 Year Old pot still also won category awards while gold medals went to the Van Ryn’s 15 and Viceroy 5 already mentioned plus to Richelieu Vintage 10 Year Old, Klipdrift Premium Export and KWV 5 Year Old.
“This is another proud moment for South African distillers,” said SA Brandy Foundation director Christelle Reade-Jahn. “Their benchmark achievements have been unwavering for many decades and is recorded across every global competition.”
Van Ryn’s general manager and master distiller, Marlene Bester, was thrilled at the news of having won the title for a second successive year – and third time in four years!
“In this competition, we compete only against brandies that are made from grapes and are aged. The category undoubtedly comprises the crème de la crème and so to win this award consecutively is an unbelievable honour."
And at the International Spirit Competition (ISC), KWV secured four double gold medals.
“We’re thrilled to have won not just one, not two, not even three, but four double gold medals at the ISC 2023," said KWV spirits marketing executive Nuno Fernandes. The winning brandies were the KWV 5, 10, 12 and 20 year old spirits.
Fernandes said the company would continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the world of brandy.
The ISC is a revered global competition, drawing in more than 1 500 entries from 70 countries.
Stellenbosch winery, Tokara, celebrated the news that is XO pot still brandy was awarded double gold at the Intercontinental Spirits Challenge 2023.
Crafted from Stellenbosch chenin blanc grapes, the brandy was double distilled in the age-old Cognac tradition and matured in individual French Limousin oak casks for a minimum of 10 and up to 17 years.
A treat for sweets
Muscadel continues to be underrated with most consumers simply recognising it for being sweet and syrupy. But some of the best wines in the world are muscats.
Front: Henri Swiegers (Muskadel SA chairperson), Marlee Malan (Vinochem)
Back: Shaun Thomson (DTK Wines), Tiaan Loubser (DTK Wines), Hermias Vollgraaff (Montagu Wines), Raymond Kirby (Mont Blois), Fred Viljoen (Viljoensdrift), Louis Martin (Nuy Winery), Lara Prins (Wagenboom) and Philip Viljoen (Bon Courage).
A treat for sweets
Muscadel continues to be underrated with most consumers simply recognising it for being sweet and syrupy. But some of the best wines in the world are muscats – like Klein Constantia’s revered Vin de Constance or Australia’s Rutherglen, for example.
The Muskadel SA awards celebrates South Africa’s best examples and awarded four platinum gongs during the 18thannual event, sponsored by Vinochem.
Mont Blois wine estate, Nuy, Montagu Winery and Viljoensdrift were the platinum stars for their special and unique examples, either single vineyard or specially oak-aged wines.
Gold medals were awarded to Bon Courage estate of Robertson for both its white and red muskadel 2022, while Du Toitskloof matched it with a gold each for its 2020 red muscadel and another for is 2021 hanepoot jerepigo. The fifth and final gold went to Waboomsrivier for its Wagenboom 2021.
Chairman of Muskadel SA, Henri Swiegers, said the fact that both older and younger vintages performed well was pleasing. “It provides a solid foundation for us in the future. The quality of SA muscadel remains excellent, and we’re pleased with this year’s results.”