Foremost Cape wine terrains suitably crowned

All the trophy winners: Lawrie Moore and Susan Wessels of Eerste Hoop Wine Estate with the Top Area Trophy (Theewaterskloof ward); Emil Weber, Springfontein Wine Estate – Top Wine Trophy; Christo Kotzé of La Vierge Wines – Top Single Vineyard Wine; Timothy Witbooi of Lourensford Wine Estate – Top Wine Estate Trophy; and Hannes Nel of Lourensford Wine Estate - Trophy Top Producer.

Moreover, all the national winner wines from all the various cultivars and styles derive from more than 18 terrains in the winelands – as announced during a glamorous event at the Lanzerac Hotel and Spa on Wednesday 14 August.

The top wine from all the entries this year was entered by Springfontein Estate in the Springfontein Rim Ward near Stanford, namely the Springfontein Single Vineyard Jonathan’s Ridge Pinotage 2018, which thereby clinched the 2024 SA Terroir Trophy for the Top Wine overall.

Pinotage, of course, is a true South African cultivar today flourishing in numerous wine terrains. This cultivar’s birth 100 years ago happens to be celebrated next year.

Both the SA Terroir Trophy for the Top Estate and the Top Terroir Producer this year were awarded to Lourensford Estate in Somerset West. Lourensford entered the national winner wines for Cap Classique, Merlot and Petit Sirah, which played a key role in naming the two top trophy winners.

Single-vineyard wines form an important part of this competition,with the smaller volume wines whose grapes originate from one vineyard. The 2024 SA Terroir Trophy for Top Single-vineyard Wine has been clinched by the La Vierge Apogée Pinot Noir 2022. La Vierge is a private cellar in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Ward of the Walker Bay District near Hermanus.

The 2024 SA Terroir Trophy for Top Area was awarded to the Theewater Ward in the Overberg district, thanks to Eerste Hoop Wine Cellar near Villiersdorp. This cellar entered the national winners for Chardonnay and Red Blend, while five of their other entries were also the top wines of the Overberg District.

New wards in large districts this year again came to the fore, including the Agter-Paarl Ward recently demarcated as unique wine terrain in the Paarl District by the Wine and Spirit Board. The national Chenin Blanc winner is from this ward, namely the Windmeul Chenin Blanc Reserve 2022.

A rare Spanish white wine cultivar, Albariño, this year excelled with a high score in this coveted competition as a national winner for this cultivar – in the form of the Bellingham The Bernard Series Single Vineyard Albariño 2023.

The Heritage Vineyards category – comprising vineyards of 35 years and older – yielded three winners. The Best White Wine was the 2022 Koelenhof Stellenbosch 1679 Bushvine Chenin Blanc, while the Best Red Wine was named as the 2023 Piekenierskloof Carel van Zyl Old Vine Grenache Noir. An “old vineyard” noble late harvest wine was this year named as winner for the first time, namely the 2024Neethlingshof Short Story Collection Maria NLH.

Among the national winners awarded for different cultivars and wine styles, 12 were estate wines and nine single-vineyard wines.

Only wines certified by the Wine and Spirit Board as wine of origin from a specific ward, a district not divided into more than one ward, an estate-produced wine and single-vineyard wine may be entered in this competition – which will mark its 20th anniversary next year.

Altogether 36 wines from all the different cultivars and styles excelled with the highest scores as National Winners this year.

In addition to the trophies and national winners, the top wines from all the different areas are also named. Highlights of the awards function will be aired on the OntbytSAKE TV programme on Saturday 7 September.

The SA Terroir Wine Awards are presented in collaboration with the financial partners SA Litho Label Printers and WinField United SA, with OntbytSAKE on KykNET as media partner.

Judges

This year’s judges were: Conrad Louw, regular Cape Wine Academy lecturer and Cape Wine Master (chairperson); Elunda Basson, Steenberg cellarmaster; Brendan Butler, winemaker and manager at Meinert Wines and Cape Wine Master; Anton Swarts, senior winemaker at Spier and Cape Wine Master, and Janine van Zyl, a qualified sommelier currently engaged in her Cape Wine Master studies.

The sponsors

As industry leaders with over 120 years’ expertise, SA Litho Label Printers seamlessly combines advanced technology with unparalleled knowledge to deliver top-tier packaging solutions.

“We are proud to be in partnership with the SA Terroir Wine Awards, where the outstanding quality and uniqueness of a wine area’s terroir are celebrated together with the winemaking process,” says Dawrian Salies, general manager of SA Litho Label Printers.

WinField United SA provides innovative solutions and is involved with projects that help drive advancement and progress in agriculture. WinField United SA CEO Jan Vermaak says, “Our partnership with the SA Terroir competition is important for us to become involved with South Africa’s showcase wines, right from the vineyards to the end-product in the bottle.”

With regard to OntbytSAKE as partner, Louis Mclaren, owner and executive producer, says, "At OntbytSAKE/kykNET, we take pride in offering national exposure to the outstanding winemakers and wine farms associated with the Terroir Wine Awards. As we strive for excellence in what we do, we also honour every business that does the same!"

The full results are available on terroirwineawards.co.za.

National winners

• Bellingham The Bernard Series Motherblock Single Vineyard Albariño 2023
• Blake's Single Vineyard Malbec 2023
• Bon Courage André's Fame Colombard 2024
• Boplaas Colheita Cape Tawny 2007
• Cederberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
• De Krans Touriga Naçional 2023
• Eerste Hoop Chardonnay (wooded) 2023
• Eerste Hoop Lady Brigitte 2022
• Flagstone Treaty Tree Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon (wooded) 2023
• Ghost Corner David Nieuwoudt Sémillon (wooded) 2023
• Jakkalsvlei Pinotage Rosé 2024
• Koelenhof Stellenbosch 1679 Bushvine Chenin Blanc 2022
• Kranskop Single Vineyard Tannat 2022
• La Vierge Apogée Pinot Noir 2022
• Le Bonheur Petit Verdot Reserve 2022
• Lourensford Cuvée Brut Zero 124 2011
• Lourensford Kleipot Petit Sirah 2020
• Lourensford Limited Release Merlot 2022
• Mariëtte Pinot Blanc (wooded) 2022
• Nabygelegen Scaramanga Verdelho 2023
• Neethlingshof Estate Gewürztraminer 2024
• Neethlingshof Short Story Collection Maria NLH 2024
• Nuy White Muscadel 2013
• Piekenierskloof Carel van Zyl Old Vine Grenache Noir 2023
• Rietvallei JMB Cabernet Franc 2019
• Saronsberg Shiraz 2021
• Saronsberg Viognier (wooded) 2022
• Slanghoek Private Selection Crème de Chenin 2023
• Springfontein Single Vineyard Jonathan's Ridge Pinotage 2018
• Springfontein Terroir Selection Chenel (wooded) 2022
• Villa Esposto Muscat D'Alexandrie Straw Wine 2023
• Villion Grenache Noir 2022
• Vrede en Lust Early Mist Riesling 2023
• Welbedacht Bakleiblok Cinsault 2023
• Windmeul Chenin Blanc Reserve (wooded) 2022
• Zoetendal Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc (wooded) 2023

Terroir is the basis whereby the natural environmental elements such as soils, topography and climate combine to tastes and characters in wines grown in the same location.

Stay in touch via social media:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SATerroirAwards
Twitter: twitter.com/SATerroirAwards
Instagram: www.instagram.com/saterroirawards
Stay connected: #saterroir

www.terroirwineawards.co.za

Enquiries to Elsabé Ferreira at tel 021 863 1599 / office@terroirwineawards.co.za

Photo captions:

Photo 2: The Top Wine Trophy: Christo Pienaar, chairman of SA Terroir Wine Awards and Emil Weber, winemaker of Springfontein with his trophy for the Springfontein Single Vineyard Jonathan’s Ridge Pinotage 2018.

Photo 3: The Heritage winners: Nicolas Husselman of Koelenhof Cellar; Christo Pienaar, chairman SA Terroir Awards; Alecia Boshoff of Piekenierskloof Wine Company; Mika Engelbrecht, winemaker of Neethlingshof Estate; and Bennie Howard, vice chairman of SA Terroir Awards.

Photo 4: The sponsors: Christo Pienaar; Louis Mclaren, owner and executive producer at OntbytSAKE; Jan Vermaak, CEO of Winfield United SA; Dawrian Salies, general manager of SA Litho; and Bennie Howard, vice-chairman of SA Terroir Wine Awards.