South Africa's Top Wines Of Origin

Constantia, Durbanville and Robertson stood out as prime wine growing areas at the second annual SA Terroir Wine Awards, with each producing three of the national certificate winners.

The Constantia and Durbanville wards are situated near the ocean and the consistently cool weather is a huge advantage, while the Robertson Valley is blessed with the right combination of soil and climate.

The national winners from Constantia are the Klein Constantia Marlbrook 2005 (Top Red Blend), Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2001 (Top Natural Dessert Wine) and Steenberg Merlot 2005 (Top Merlot). The Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2001 is also the wine that received the highest rating of all the wines entered. The Muscat de Frontignan grapes used for this wine come from the historic vineyards on Klein Constantia.

Bon Courage Estate entered two of the national certificate winners from the Robertson area, the Bon Courage Cap CJ Bruere Brut Reserve 2003 (Top Cap Classique Sparkling Wine) and Red Muscadel 2002 (Top Fortified Dessert Wine). The third national winner from that area is the McGregor Colombar 2007 (Top Colombar).

Durbanville in 2006 produced two national winners and the three wines awarded national certificates at this year's competition are the Bloemendal Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (Top Sauvignon Blanc), De Grendel Winifred 2006 (Top White Blend) and Nitida Semillon 2006 (Top Semillon).

The Breedekloof District also did very well this year with two of the national winners, the Avondrood Viognier 2006 (Top Viognier) and Bergsig Chardonnay 2006 (Top Chardonnay).

The other national certificate winners at this year's competition all came from different winegrowing wards, namely Cederberg Chenin Blanc 2005 (Top Chenin Blanc) from the Cederberg ward, Doolhof Signatures Pinotage 2005 (Top Pinotage) from the Wellington ward, Franschhoek Cellar Reserve Petit Verdot 2005 (Top Petit Verdot) from the Franschhoek ward, Knorhoek Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (Top Cabernet Sauvignon) from the Simonsberg-Stellenbosch ward and Koelfontein Shiraz 2005 (Top Shiraz) from the Ceres ward.

Three of these national winning wines were exactly the same wine cultivar or style of wine from exactly the same terrain as last year's winners. Bon Courage Estate outside Robertson entered the Top Fortified with a Muscadel in 2006 and 2007, Steenberg in Constantia the Top Merlot in both years and Bloemendal in Durbanville the Top Sauvignon Blanc in both years.

It is interesting to note that three of the more scarce wine grape cultivars in South Africa, Petit Verdot, Semillon and Viognier, produced national winners from respectively Franschhoek, Durbanville and Goudini in Breedekloof.

In the categories for the best wines from districts and wards, from which the national winners are selected in the final round, the Bottelary and Wellington wards stood out as prime terrains in their districts. In the Stellenbosch district five of the winning wines in that category are from the Bottelary ward and in the Paarl district six of the winning wines are from the Wellington ward.

"A total of 156 wines were judged this year and there is an increase in the wine of origin areas participating and the different cultivar wines being entered. Most entries were Shiraz (23), followed by Sauvignon Blanc (22), red blends (17) and Pinotage (16). The Shiraz entries came from 15 different wine of origin areas and the Sauvignon Blanc from 13 different wine of origin areas. All of this is proof that the Cape Winelands is growing into its own world of wine," says Marius Labuschagne, wine consultant and project leader of SA Terroir Wine Awards.

The wines were tasted blind at Elsenburg Agricultural College and the panel consisted of connoisseurs who have many years of experience in tasting all the wines from all the districts. They are Charl Theron (wine tasting and wine lecturer, panel member of the Wine and Spirits Board), Christine Rudman (Cape Wine Master), Brenda van Niekerk (cellar master), Pierre Marais (wine consultant, previously cellar master of the Bergkelder) and Clive Torr (Cape Wine Master and winemaker).

"Because it is all about terroir, the international term for a specific wine terrain, the wines are judged according to the quality of the product combined with distinctive characteristics created by the soil and climate in the specific area. It was clear that the winemakers did a lot of work with these wines to portray their origin without sacrificing quality. Only the terrain and a dedicated viticulturist and winemaker can produce these results," says Charl Theron, coordinator of the judging and convener of the panel.

The SA Terroir Wine Awards is made possible by the sponsorship of Novare, a young South African independent investment consulting firm. Fifty percent of Novare is owned by the Mvelaphanda Group Limited, established by Tokyo Sexwale in 1998. The chairman of Novare is Dr. Jackie Mphafudi, and the CEO is Johan Henn.

Besides the national SA Terroir Wine Awards certificates, the top wines were also selected in the different categories identified for the Terroir Wine Awards.

South Africa's Top Wines Of Origin by Gerald Crawford
Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and african travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on.

E-mail Address: southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za

Website Address: http://www.12234455.co.za

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com