A wooded white blend of chardonnay and colombar from Badsberg near Rawsonville in the Western Cape has won the General Smuts trophy as overall SA Champion Young Wine for 2021. This, after also being awarded the trophy for the best South African white blend at the SA Young Wine Show.
It was the fourth time that Badsberg walked away as overall winner, having also achieved this with a wooded ruby cabernet in 2020, a wooded pinotage in 2016 and a natural sweet wine in 2009.
Badsberg thereby joins only four other producers to have won the General Smuts trophy in successive years since the inception of this iconic trophy in 1952.
This annual show for wines of the current vintage year is presented by the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) in collaboration with Agri-Expo. It is the first time in the competition’s 189-year existence, the oldest of its kind in the world, that a white blend clinched the top award.
An increase in entries
The competition’s 19 SA Champion trophies in total – including the Pietman Hugo trophy for the most points achieved with five entries – were announced yesterday. A total of 45 wines achieved class winner status and 73 received gold medals.
The Pietman Hugo trophy, which is awarded to the winery scoring the highest total points for its best five wines, was clinched by Spier Wines of Stellenbosch.
The total entries were up substantially from last year, when entries showed a decrease due to the Covid-19 limitations. The judges were unanimous in saying that the quality of the entries for 2021 was outstanding thanks to a much later and cooler vintage.
The almost 50 judges, on 13 panels, scrutinised the 1 162 entries at the end of July.
In terms of overall results, Perdeberg Cellar in Paarl also excelled with two national winners: Perdeberg Chenin Blanc Natural Sweet White Wine and Perdeberg Malbec.
Other SA Champion wines
- Chardonnay – Nuy Wine Cellar, Chardonnay (wooded)
- Chenin Blanc – Spier Wines, Chenin Blanc (wooded)
- Sauvignon Blanc – Cilmor, Sauvignon Blanc (wooded)
- Sémillon – La Motte Sémillon
- Other White Cultivar – Ashton Winery Colombar (wooded)
- Noble Late Harvest Wine – Bon Courage Estate, Noble Late Harvest
- Cabernet Sauvignon – Bonnievale Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon (wooded)
- Merlot – Pulpit Rock Merlot (wooded)
- Pinotage – Wellington Wines Pinotage (wooded)
- Red Blend – KWV Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon/Petite Sirah/Petit Verdot/Cabernet Franc (wooded)
- Shiraz – Kleine Zalze Wines Shiraz (wooded)
- Dessert Wine – Excelsior Vlakteplaas, Red Jerepigo
- Muscadel – Montagu Wine Cellar Red Muscadel Jerepigo
- Cape Style – De Krans Wines, Any Other Cape Style – Touriga Nacional
Paarl stood out as best performing district with five national trophies, followed by Breedekloof/Worcester, the Klein Karoo and Robertson with three trophies each, Stellenbosch with two and Swartland with one trophy.
The chairperson of the Young Wine Show, Christo Pienaar, said that the quality of the entries has been of a very good standard and consumers can look forward to many excellent wines from the 2021 vintage year.
“I am excited with the results of the winners of the SA Champion wines from all over the country’s wine-producing areas, as well as the diverse types of wineries. I wish to thank all those who participated for their ongoing support.”
ALSO READ: From the Cape Flats to making Nederburg’s finest wines
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain.
