Barker and Quin, South Africa’s leading producer of premium natural tonic water, has joined the Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards as a headline trophy sponsor. The Paarl-based drinks company, which was founded in 2016 by oenology doctorate Hanneli van der Merwe and Chris Wium, has grown into one of South Africa’s success stories in the mixed-drinks market. A strong local customer base is complemented by markets for its range of tonic waters in 13 countries world-wide.

Travellers visiting Bidvest Premier Lounges en route to their international and local destinations, will in future have access to a variety of award-winning wines from the prestigious Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards.  A selection of both red and white wine from five producers who featured on the medals podium at the 2019 awards will be on offer at eleven Bidvest Premier Lounges at local and international airports in South Africa. This arrangement follows the recent announcement of Bidvest Premier Lounges becoming a new sponsor of the Michelangelo Awards, Africa’s largest drinks competition.

One of the – no the – most challenging harvests in his winemaking career, says Neethlingshof cellarmaster De Wet Viljoen of Harvest 2019 on this famous Stellenbosch estate. Neethlingshof has 99ha of vineyards and with its location, facing south-east towards False Bay is recognised as being one of the premier cool-climate estates in the Stellenbosch region.

Orange River Cellars from the Northern Cape put in another domineering performance at a leading South African wine competition, winning seven coveted awards at this year’s Top 100 SA Wines/National Wine Challenge held in Cape Town recently.

A commitment to site-specific Chardonnay helped De Wetshof Estate in Robertson achieve Top 100 Wine and Double Platinum status at the recent Top 100 SA/National Wine Challenge Awards. This award went to The Site 2016, one of the five Chardonnays in De Wetshof’s range of wines made from a grape variety the estate helped introduce to the South African wine industry more than three decades ago.

Top image: Michel Blanc, director of the Federation des Producteurs de Châteauneuf-du-Pape (FEDCN)

The director of one of the world’s most renowned wine appellations will be joining the team of international judges adjudicating the 23^rd Michelangelo International Wine & Spirit Awards in August this year. Michel Blanc, director of the Federation des Producteurs de Châteauneuf-du-Pape (FEDCN), is a welcome addition to this year’s panel of wine experts who will be judging Africa’s largest and most comprehensive drinks competition.

Cabernet Sauvignon is alive and well in the Swartland Wine Region. Org de Rac, the organic wine farm in the Piketberg region, brought home two 90pt scores from the recent Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report, one each for the Org de Rac Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2015 and 2016 vintages.

In the first collaboration of its kind, Bidvest Car Rental has teamed up with the Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards to offer instant discounted rates to wine and spirits producers as well as consumers. Bidvest Car Rentals is one of South Africa’s largest car rental companies 120 locations across South Africa, Namibia and Botswana Africa, while Michelangelo is South Africa’s leading drinks competition.

The refined elegance of the Stellenbosch wine region’s cool 2015 vintage comes to the fore in the latest offering of Rabelais, the iconic red wine blend from Thelema Mountain Vineyards. According to Thelema winemaker Rudi Schultz, the Rabelais blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot represents the finest fruit selection and terroir expression from this venerable Stellenbosch estate on the slopes of the renowned Simonsberg.

The Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards is proud to announce a pioneering and exciting agreement with the Bidvest Premier Lounge Group, which promises to add tangible value to the competition’s annual awards’ medals and trophies.