The rich and diverse indigenous fynbos of South Africa’s winelands has become a welcome ally to the region’s wine farmers, providing natural eco-systems between and alongside vineyards where the fynbos plants act as a natural pest controller, energising soil and creating a hardy crop-cover that helps retain moisture in the soil.
The most famous wine in the world is honoured on Friday, 23 October this year when World Champagne Day is celebrated on all four corners of the globe. There can be no doubt with its celebratory cork-popping, zesty bubbly composition and delicious freshness, Champagne is the most well-known and most celebrated wine style in the world.
One of South Africa’s most unique and awarded Sauvignon Blanc wines, the Winter Ferment from Diemersdal Estate in Durbanville, continued its winning-ways by taking the Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc at this year’s Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards. Since the first vintage of Winter Ferment in 2017 the wine has won numerous accolades, including spots in the FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc Competition, Veritas Double Gold accolades and the Sauvignon Blanc Trophy at the National Young Wine Show.
In a year that has seen the accolades rolling in for Org de Rac Estate, this Swartland producer’s latest triumph is winning the Trophy for Best Organic Wine at this year’s Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards. The Trophy-winning wine was Org de Rac’s Roussanne 2019, one of the estate-grown and made wines from the wine farm situated on the slopes of the Piketberg Mountain some 125km north of Cape Town.
Chamonix Estate in Franschhoek finds itself on top of the wine world after being named the Best Scoring wine at this year’s Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards for its Chamonix Chardonnay 2018. This wine not only won the Grand Prix Trophy for Best Scoring Wine, but also the Chardonnay Trophy for achieving the highest score from the 109 Chardonnays entered into this leading South African wine competition. With over 1 500 entries, Michelangelo continues to be the country’s largest and most comprehensive wine show.
Diemersdal Estate’s commitment to Sauvignon Blanc once again paid-off by its winning the Sauvignon Blanc Trophy at this year’s South African National Young Wine Show. This follows on what Diemersdal owner-winemaker Thys Louw has termed an “absolutely brilliant year” for Sauvignon Blanc, with some of the best quality wines he has ever seen emerging from of his sixth generation owned family estate.
Once the world returns to normal – one day – the issue of sustainability and producers’ green credentials will be the number one issue on the agenda of any winery exporting to Europe (South Africa’s largest market) and the USA. Here South Africa can, if it jostles effectively, edge into a top-spot as a sustainable, environmentally aware wine country that takes care in leaving a lower carbon footprint. Not only through the facets and machinations of production. But, also by its off-setting of carbon emissions through the green lungs of fynbos wilderness breathing in the wild, natural spaces between the splendid Cape winelands.
One of South Africa’s most unique and awarded Sauvignon Blanc wines, the Winter Ferment from Diemersdal Estate in Durbanville, has seen the release of its fourth vintage. This wine, made from grapes harvested in February 2020, undergoes fermentation in the South African winter months after the freshly crushed juice was frozen for four months to give the wine a uniquely expressive fruit profile.
Chamonix Wine Estate in Franschhoek’s nine 90pt plus scores achieved in this year’s Special Report on South African wine by leading critic Tim Atkin MW underscores the estate’s strive towards consistency and focus in each bottle of wine leaving winery for the market-place. According to Chamonix winemaker Neil Bruwer, this year’s stunning showing in Atkin’s highly regarded report affirms his belief that if you are going to be an all-rounder, you need to be good in all those rounds.
