Rietvallei Once Again Top Terroir Wine Estate

Continuing a wave of competition triumphs in recent years, this Robertson wine estate was crowned as Top Terroir Wine Estate for the second year in a row at the 17th annual SA Terroir Wine Awards, while also winning two coveted trophies for national winners in the Cabernet Franc and Cinsaut categories.

Clinching these two categories among the 32 national winners announced at the Clara’s Barn Restaurant (The Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate near Somerset West) this year, were the 2016 Rietvallei JMB Cabernet Franc and 2020 Rietvallei Dark Cin Cinsaut. 

Rietvallei last year also won the trophy as Top Producer, in addition to being named the national winner for Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc with its Estéanna Sauvignon Blanc 2020 and Chenin Blanc 2020. 

Said Kobus Burger, owner-winemaker of this 158 year-old wine estate, “We feel extremely honoured once again to have been awarded the Top Estate trophy and two national category trophies at this year’s Terroir competition – thereby reaffirming our unique terroir traits for fine wine production. It’s gratifying to see our area and its terroir-driven wines increasingly being acknowledged among the country’s leading wine terrains with their extraordinary diversity. 

“The JMB Cabernet Franc 2016 is full-bodied and complex, with excellent fruit and wood integration. Lots of work in the vineyard and minimal interference in the cellar allow this wine to express its terroir to the fullest. The Dark Cin 2020 is a uniquely dark and decadent Cinsaut, which truly personifies its name, as enchanting as it is captivating with a touch of mystery,” according to this sixth generation Burger at Rietvallei’s helm.

This top terroir acknowledgement follows on Rietvallei’s latest two Double Platinum Awards at the National Wine Challenge / Top 100 in May this year – for the same terroir-topping Rietvallei Dark Cin 2020 (Grand Cru Best in Class Cinsaut) – and Cabernet Sauvignon 2018. These, in addition to Double Gold for the JMB Cabernet Franc 2016 and the Classic Chardonnay 2021 in the 2022 Challenge. 

In the Terroir competition, only wines certified as single-vineyard wine, estate-produced wine, and wine from a ward or district not divided into more than one ward, are in contention. These Awards have their origin in the highly regarded Wine of Origin System, which was introduced almost 50 years ago and is acknowledged worldwide as one of the best of its kind to verify the integrity of wine in the bottle and of statements made on the label.

2022 SA Terroir Wine Awards Trophy Winners

  • SA Terroir Top Wine Estate                    Rietvallei Wine Estate 
  • SA Terroir Top Producer                         Saronsberg Cellar  
  • SA Terroir Top Single Vineyard Wine     2019 Benguela Cove Catalina Sémillon
  • SA Terroir Top Area                                Tulbagh
  • SA Terroir Top Wine                             2019 Flagstone Treaty Tree Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon