Robertson-based wine estate Rietvallei underscored its versatility on the wine competition circuit by obtaining a berth in the Top 100 SA Wines Competition with the Rietvallei Classic Estate Muscadel 2013.This follows on the success Rietvallei achieved last year when its Chardonnay 2012 was awarded a Gold Medal at the Chardonnay du Monde Competition in France where the same wine was also selected as one of the competition’s Top 10 Wines. The Rietvallei Sauvignon Blanc 2012 also struck Gold at last year’s Michelangelo Wine Competition judged by an international panel.

“A spot in this year’s Top 100 SA Wines is a great privilege as everyone is aware of the fact that South Africa has never had so many wine producers and so many good wines,” says Kobus Burger, CEO and Cellarmaster at Rietvallei Estate. “Having one of our Muscadels place under the Top 100 is an honour as it recognises a traditional wine style which has become synonymous with Rietvallei, especially in this year of us celebrating the farm’s 150th anniversary.”

Kobus Burger from Rietvallei

The 2014 Top 100 SA Wines attracted 491 entries, a 15% improvement on last year’s entries indicating that it is now firmly entrenched as a premier South African wine competition. Rietvallei’s Estéanna White 2011, a blended white wine, also achieved a Top 100 spot in 2012.

“I am pleased the way the Top 100 SA Wines has grown since its inception four years ago, and it is now undoubtedly one of South Africa’s leading wine competitions,” says Burger. “With the acclaimed foreign judges in the panel, I welcome their recognition of Muscadel, a wine-style I have always believed to be one in which South Africa leads the world in terms of quality and production techniques.”

Burger says that wine competitions such as the Top 100 SA wines remain of great importance for producers. “They allow you to see how you as a producer and your region shape-up against your peers in one of the world’s most exciting wine countries,” says Burger. “And there is no doubt that today’s brand-focused consumer is prone to preferring wines that have passed the stringent selection processes of a major wine competition. Few wine-drinkers will let the opportunity of trying one of South Africa’s Top 100 wines go by and we at Rietvallei are elated to be in such good company.”