Appraising the potential of the valley’s current vintage
By: Myrna Robins
We have three SA national champions and a host of regional winners to congratulate now that the dust has settled on the 2018 South African and Regional Young Wine Show results.
At this, the 186th presentation of the SA Young Wine Show awards, Bon Courage took home both the Agri Expo Gold trophy as producer of the South African Champion Noble Late Harvest and the Silver tray for their National Sweet white wine. The JG Graue trophy for the Champion Chardonnay went to De Wetshof estate.
From our Robertson region, a total of 19 trophies were presented to this year’s champions, and, of these, Bon Courage took home no less than nine, an achievement worthy of popping the corks of all three of their MCC’s in celebration. They scored in the following categories: Dry white blend – Colombar/Chardonnay (Mountain River trophy), Sauvignon Blanc (Imvusa Stainless trophy, Colombar (Pon van Zyl trophy, Natural Sweet White (Rietvallei Trophy), Noble Late Harvest (Roelou Barry trophy), Vintage Port (Ritter Stainless Steel trophy) and Muscadel (Overberg trophy). They also attracted the Laffort Trophy for the best five nominated wines and the JF Hillebrand trophy as the producer of the Robertson overall Champion.
The Vinochem trophy for Dry Red blend category, won by Ashton Winery, was awarded to their Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz blend, and the Johan de Wet trophy for other white cultivars, also scooped by Ashton Winery, was for their Morio Muscat entry.
The prestigious Pon van Zyl trophy, awarded to a person who has made a notable contribution to the Robertson wine industry was presented to Louis Bruwer this year, in recognition of his expertise in the field of water and irrigation. Given the recent drought, the award is particularly apposite.
Robertson Wine Valley is also home to 53 class winners from the 17 cellars which entered wines this year. The results reveal a fascinating mix of the venerable, large and long-established names, alongside a few comparative newcomers who are making a mark with their noteworthy wines. To comment on just a few, Ashton Winery must be delighted with their total of 32 awards, topping the list, while Bon Courage came in second with 23 and also scored the most class winners, collecting 10. The acclaimed renaissance at Bonnievale Wines was emphasised by their array of class winners and other awards, while McGregor Koop not only produced three class winners but scored a pleasing total of 22 awards, a figure equalled by Langverwacht. De Wetshof Estate and Robertson Koop each bagged three class winners and Rooiberg got two and scored a total of 18. Among the recently established and boutique producers both Kleinhoekkloof and Windfall each took home a class winner.
Johann de Wet from De Wetshof.
The SA Young Wine Show itself can take a bow, being the oldest such contest in the southern hemisphere, dating back to 1833. The event, presented by the SA National Wine Show Association sees winemakers from eight wine regions enter the best of their current vintages – from tank, barrel, and concrete “egg” – in a showcase of what will soon be bottled. Along with Robertson, the regions taking part are Worcester/Breedekloof, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Oranje-Vaal, Olifants River, Swartland and the Little Karoo.
A raft of judges undertakes the tricky task of assessing quality in these youthful wines for both class winners in cultivar categories along with the champions. All wines are tasted blind and judges are seated in individual booths.
