Calling on all winemakers. Entries are now open for this year’s SA Young Wine Show, for which winemakers from all South African wine regions can enter until 22 June, or directly at the Show office in Paarl up to 7 July.
The SA Young Wine Show is the oldest of its kind in the world, having been presented for 191 years. This has given winemakers the opportunity to enter their various young wines from all the wine-growing areas since 1833, including experimental styles and new cultivars to compete in all the show’s classes.
The competition is open to young wines made in the current calendar year and the 2023 young wines are being anticipated with great expectations. The winemakers agree that it has been a particularly challenging year, but a variety of fine-quality wines have been made and wine lovers can look forward to wines of excellent quality.
Excellent grape quality and flavour
Conrad Schutte, consultation manager of the wine industry body Vinpro, said that given this season’s combination of cold and wet conditions, the 2023 season has produced one of the smallest crops in more than a decade in terms of volume.
“Smaller berries, driven by the dry conditions during the earlier part of the growing season benefitted grape quality and excellent flavour and colour profiles were observed. By the end of February, above-average rainfall occurred, and this trend persisted until the end of March. The cool conditions together with ample rain made it challenging for viticulturists and winemakers to take well-considered harvesting decisions,” he said.
The competition’s organisers, the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA), have announced that judging is to take place in the Johann Graue Hall at Nederburg in Paarl from 24 to 28 July.
Coveted trophies at stake
The Young Wine Show awards SA Champion Trophies in 17 classes, which presents an ideal opportunity for all producers to compete for them with their choice wines.
Moreover, two especially coveted trophies are at stake, namely the General Smuts and Pietman Hugo Trophies, respectively as the competition’s top accolades – since 1952 for the overall champion wine and from 1996 as recognition for the highest total points achieved for five wines entered.
As has been customary over the years, specialist judges are appointed to all the panels to ensure the very best judging expertise is utilised to identify the winners.
A chance for young wines to shine
The SA Young Wines Show annually offers a unique opportunity for the wine industry to present its young wines for judging and use the results as a yardstick of quality. The show is widely used by winemakers to present their new styles and new cultivars for evaluation, while the well-known cultivars show their mettle as young wines.
Thanks to the value of the 19 showpiece trophies involved – awarded in the various categories since the glory days of the Cape Town Company Gardens and later the Goodwood Showgrounds in collaboration with Agri-Expo – the SA Young Wine Show has been going from strength to strength as a yardstick of the country’s young wines in every vintage year.
The Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society – which in 1996 established the marketing name Agri-Expo – has over the years been actively involved with the SA Young Wine Show as owner of this remarkable wine competition and also maintains its commitment as patron until today. In the process, Agri-Expo has entrusted to the SANWSA the particularly impressive collection of gold and silver trophies which are annually handed to the winners.
Bright future in store
Meanwhile, in the past five years, the Young Wine Show boasts a huge incentive for the two main trophy winners: a partnership between the organisers and Porex SA – a prominent Paarl-based supplier of machinery and winemaking equipment to the industry – was formed by which the two respective winners of General Smuts and Pietman Hugo Trophies are sponsored for a six-day trip to Germany.
The organisers have also announced that a further five financial partners have joined the SA Young Wine Show to support its impressive endeavours. They are well-known wine industry suppliers Anchor Technology, Enartis, Laffort, Nexus and Standard Bank.
Christo Pienaar, chairperson of the SANWSA, said, “We are excited to welcome our new partners to help build out the SA Young Wine Show to benefit the industry through this positive development. Thereby, they are ensuring a bright future for the Show and also the wine industry.”
The prestigious awards function for the national trophy winners, as well as the winners of the Pietman Hugo Trophy and famous General Smuts Trophy for the overall winning wine in 2023, will this year be hosted by the Paarl Region on 25 August.
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