Orange River Cellars from the Northern Cape put in another sterling performance at a leading South African wine competition, taking one Top 100 spots as well as two Double Gold medals in the Top 100 SA Wines/National Wine Challenge held in Cape Town recently.
The coveted Top 100 slot went to Orange River Cellars’ Lyra Vega wine from the 2016 vintage. This blend of Shiraz and Mourvèdre reaffirms the fact that the Northern Cape is more than capable of producing the quality grapes needed to produce classic dry red wines of exceptional quality.
The Orange River Cellars Lyra Vega 2015 won a Double Gold, the other Double going to the Upington-based winery’s renowned Straw Wine 2017.
According to Koos Visser, having one wine among the Top 100 in South Africa and two others achieving Double Gold status is a tremendous honour for any winery.
“Our country has never produced as many wines of such exceptional quality as is currently the case,” says Koos Visser, marketing manager at Orange River Cellars.
“With some 8 000 various brands in South Africa alone, to see your wine adjudged among the top 100 is a great achievement for our wineries, our team of viticulturists and the winemakers.”
Visser says he and the team at Orange River are especially elated that the winery’s Top 100 spot was presented to a serious red wine such as the Lyra Vega. “We are perhaps known more for our fortified Muscadels and our easy-drinking quality-for-value table wines,” he says. “But the viticulture and winemaking teams have over the past decade gone to great lengths to select grapes from specifics vineyard sites along the Orange River with the aim of showing what we can do at a premium level. The Lyra Vega is a stunning red wine that has received tremendous acclaim among critics and consumers alike, as well as doing a sterling job in elevating the Orange River’s image as a quality wine region.”
Despite the geographical challenges attached to making premium wine in the Northern Cape, the producers, viticulturists and winemakers have shown in the past few years that they are up to the task.
“The fact that we are located 800 km from the traditional winelands of the Cape means that Orange River Cellars has to work hard to confirm our image as a quality region in the eyes of the consumer,” he says.
“Besides awarding our products, awards such as the Top 100 SA Wines/National Wine Challenge are important in acting as an indication of where we are in terms of quality as measure alongside our peers. The latest results have once again shown that the time for Orange River Cellars and the Northern Cape wine region have arrived.”
Visser says the Top 100 results are an important vehicle for the consumer to use as a guide when making his or her purchasing decision.
“At the end of the day, the customer is king,” says Visser. “By being able to endorse your Top 100 achievement with a prominent bottle-sticker, the customer can be assured of the quality in the bottle. And keeping the customer happy should be the number one aim of any wine producer.”
