Boplaas sets the benchmark for fine Cape fortifieds at 25th Veritas

Once again Boplaas Family Vineyards from the beautiful Klein Karoo hamlet of Calitzdorp,

proved it can punch way above its weight class amassing a tally of four gold, as well as one of only three double gold medals awarded to fortified wines at the 25th annual Veritas awards this past weekend for the Boplaas Cape Tawny Vintner’s Reserve BIN 1880.

An old adage amongst stock farmers is that, “Competition breeds best!”, and so to the case in wine with strong competition forcing the winemaker and his or her vineyard team to strive to achieve the very best they can from a particular vintage. At the 25th instalment of South Africa’s first bottled wine show, Veritas – garnering 1763 wine and brandy entries with a total of 57 double gold and 157 gold medals awarded – Boplaas Family Vineyards managed to scoop an impressive four gold medals and one of only three double gold medals in the fortified category. The Boplaas Cape Tawny Vintner’s Reserve BIN 1880 Non-Vintage took one of only two double golds awarded to Cape “Port”. The gold medals were scooped up by the Boplaas Cape Vintage Port 2013, Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve 2011, the Boplaas Heritage Collection Muscadel 2011, while the Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve Port 2005 took gold in the museum class.

Traditionally a mainstay of the wine industry & a category consistently producing some of the finest wines, fortifieds managed to only produce three double gold medals. The Boplaas Cape Tawny Vintner’s Reserve BIN 1880 was crafted from the finest selection of Tinta Barocca & Touriga Nacional carefully matured in old Port Pipes for a minimum of 15 years. The components of this fine old Cape Tawny were still fortified with a combination of wine and aged brandy spirit & this coupled with the extended time in barrel has resulted in an incredibly complex, morish and rare Cape Tawny. This wine is exclusively available from the Boplaas cellar door, while the BIN 1880 alludes to the founding of Boplaas in 1880.

Crafted from a trio of Portuguese varieties & traditionally vinified in lagars – open top cement fermenters – the gold medal Boplaas Cape Vintage 2013 offers the avid wine enthusiast incredible value at R250 per bottle from cellar door and will age quite well over a decade from harvest. The Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve’s are crafted in limited volumes and with the express ideal of further bottle maturation over decades, just like fine Vintage Ports from Portugal, and the gold medals for the Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve 2011 & in the museum class for the Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve 2005 highlights their class.

Hand harvested fruit from a gnarled old block of Muscadel along the banks of the Breede River & crafted in much the same way the first Muscats would have been made at Boplaas, the gold medal winning Boplaas Heritage Collection Muscadel 2011 is a testament to fine Cape Muscat – a complex, unctuous wine to mature for decades and enjoy with fine rustic fare. A mere 3300 bottles of this maiden vintage Heritage Muscadel was crafted & is the only gold medal white Muscat at Veritas 2015.
This quiet impressive result from a small family owned and operated winery, steadfastly confirms Boplaas’s reputation as the Cape’s benchmark producer of fine fortifieds.
Come discover these luminary fortifieds, as well as our range of Portuguese varietal table wines, potstill brandies and other wines at our cellar door in Calitzdorp, as well our tasting room in Little Brak along the Garden route.