Kanonkop
and Ormonde shared fourth position in the medal rankings with 2 Double Gold and
2 Gold each. Oak Valley Wines, Perdeberg and Rustenberg won 2 Double Gold and 1
Gold award each. Kleine Zalze won 2 Double Gold medals.
In the fortified wines category Boplaas excelled with 1 Double Gold and
4 Gold medals. Runner-up KWV won 1
Double Gold and 3 Gold. Conradie Family
Vineyards took 1 Double Gold medal.
KWV also excelled in
the brandy category with 3 Double
Gold and 1 Gold medal. Van Ryn’s
clinched 2 Double Gold and 2 Gold awards. Oude
Meester won 2 Double Gold and 1 Gold medal. Richelieu was awarded 1 Double Gold and 1 Gold medal. Collison’s, Flight of the Fish Eagle and Oude
Molen’s Ladismith brandy each earned 1 Double Gold medal. Klipdrift scored 2 Gold awards.
Best Performer by
Entry title went to Kanonkop
in the category for 10 wines or less, whilst KWV triumphed in the class for more than 10 wines.
Five
wine industry luminaries – Cassie du Plessis, Jos le
Roux, Bill Gallagher, Michael Green and Jan Scannell – received the Living Legends scroll of honour in
recognition of their invaluable contribution to the South African wine and
brandy industries.
The dazzling Veritas 25th gala dinner,
held at the CTICC, was sponsored by Agri-Expo with celebrity chefs Bertus
Basson and David Higgs adding a fine culinary touch to the sumptuous dinner
prepared by Warwick Thomas executive Chef of CTICC. .
Double Gold wines
KWV won 5 Double Gold
medals for: Abraham
Perold Tributum 2013, The Mentors Chardonnay 2012, The Mentors Orchestra
2011, The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc Darling 2013 and The Mentors Sémillon
Darling 2014.
Nederburg’s Double Gold
glory went to Nederburg
II Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and Nederburg Private Bin Edelkeur 2005.
Spier won Double Gold
for the Savanha
Naledi Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and The Hutton Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
(Woolworths) 2013.
Kanonkop’s pair of Double
Gold Medals for the 2009 and 2012 Pinotage attest to their prowess with this
variety.
Ormonde Vineyards’ 2013
Chip off the Old Block Shiraz and Shiraz won Double Gold.
Oak Valley Wines was
awarded Double Gold with Oak Valley Elgin Chardonnay 2014 and Oak Valley Pinot Noir
2013.
Perdeberg scooped 2 Double
Gold medals for Perdeberg The Dry Land
Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and Saam Mountain The Middelburg Chenin Blanc 2013.
Rustenburg Wines clinched
2 Double Golds for Rustenberg
Five Soldiers Chardonnay 2012 and Rustenberg Peter Barlow
Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.
Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Sur Lie Sauvignon Blanc 2015 and Kleine Zalze Vintage
Brut Chardonnay/Pinot Noir MCC 2009 each won Double Gold.
A total of 22 producers
won 1 Double Gold each: Anura, Babylons Peak, Badsberg, Beyerskloof, Boschkloof, Darling Cellars, Cederberg
Private Cellar, Boschendal, Diemersdal, Durbanville Hills, Eagle’s Nest Wines,
Het Vlock Casteel, Lanzerac, Le Bonheur, Longavi (Chile), Neethlingshof, Org de
Rac, Peter Falke Wines, Saronsberg, Simonsig, Tokara and Villiera,
The fortified kings
A total of 3 Double Gold and 19 Gold medals were awarded to top fortified wines. The winning Double
Gold trio are: Boplaas CapeTawny
Vintner's Reserve Bin 1880 NV, Conradie
Family Vineyards Muskadel Limited Release 2009 and KWV Classic Collection Cape Tawny Dessert Wine NV.
The brandy masters
South Africa’s leading brandy producers garnered 11 Double Gold and 7 Gold
medals.
KWV scooped 3 Double Gold awards with the KWV 10 year Potstill Brandy, KWV
12 year Potstill Brandy and KWV Alambic 15 year Potstill Brandy. Oude Meester Demant Potstilled Brandy
and Oude Meester Souverein Potstilled Brandy 18 year were all awarded Double
Gold. Van Ryn’s clinched 2 Double
Gold medals with the Van Ryn’s 12 year old Vintage Brandy and Van Ryn’s 15 year
old Vintage Brandy. Veritas Double Gold medals were also awarded to: Collison’s White Gold, Flight of the Fish Eagle, Oude Molen Ladismith 8 year Brandy, and
Richelieu 10 year old Brandy.
Medal
overview
A total of 1 763 medal contenders were rated by
an authoritative line-up of international judges joined by local wine
specialists. Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon
occupied the top three categories with 229, 167 and 132 entries
respectively. A total of 32 brandies
were entered in three categories: Standard, Potstill and Vintage.
Overall 57 double gold, 157 gold, 473 silver and 662
bronze medals were awarded this year.
Amongst the wines Sauvignon Blanc scored the highest number of Double Gold medals (9), followed by
Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz (5 each), Pinotage (4), MCC (3), Chardonnay (3),
Cape Blend (3), Other Red Blends (3), Bordeaux Blend (2), Chenin Blanc (1),
Semillon (1), Merlot (1), Pinot Noir (1), Museum Red Wine (1) and Museum Noble
Late Harvest (1).
Shiraz was the top-scorer in the Gold
medal stakes with 14 awards, followed by Chenin Blanc (13), Other Red Blends
(11), Chardonnay (10), Sauvignon Blanc (10), Cabernet Sauvignon (10), Bordeaux
Blend (9), Pinotage (8), Other White Cultivars (6), Merlot (5), Pinot Noir (4),
White blends (4), MCC (4), Noble Late Harvest (3), Malbec (2), Natural Sweet,
Blanc de Noir, Rosé (2), Cape Blend (2), Museum White Wine (2), Museum Red Wine
(2), Museum Noble Late Harvest (2), Semillon (1), Viognier (1), Straw wine (1),
MCC Rosé (1), White & red (predominantly white (1), Cabernet Franc (1) and
Museum MCC (1).
Fortified
wines achieved three Double Gold awards
with Port (2) and Red Muscadel (1) and Gold
awards for Port (5), Museum Port (3), Red Muscadel (4), Dessert (2), Museum
White Dessert (2), White Muscadel (1), Museum Red Dessert (1) and Sherry (1).
In the
Brandy section Potstill brandy scored 11 Double
Gold medals and six Gold medals.
Standard brandies were awarded two gold medals.
International tasters
For the 2015 competition, eight international judges joined the
line-up representing various countries.
The international tasters were: Lynne Sherriff from the UK, MW and Cape Wine Master and
one of the world’s most authoritative wine experts; Debra Meiburg MW from Hong Kong co-founder of the Cathay
Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition; Cees van Casteren MW Chairman of the Dutch Association of Vinologists, wine
writer, educator and consultant; Rebecca
Leung, one of Hong Kong’s most notable wine writers, an independent
educator and consultant; Tersina Shieh,
a former marketer, winemaker and avid promoter of wine culture in Hong Kong and
China; Taiwan-based Mark Pygott, a
wine educator, consultant and writer as well as Masters of Wine candidate. Denis Lahouratate, cellar master at the
French House of Bisquit Cognac and Dave
Hughes, one of South Africa’s leading wine
and spirits experts with more than 40 years of extensive international
experience.
The entire judging process is independently audited by
Deloitte.
Taste the winners
Wine
lovers have the opportunity to sample the top-performing double gold and gold
medal winning wines and brandies at country-wide tastings sponsored by
Deloitte. The Veritas showcase tastings will take place in Cape Town (20
October), Johannesburg (27 October), Durban (4 November), Port Elizabeth (10
November) and Knysna (11 and 12 November).
Contact us
For more information, including tastings countrywide, visit www.veritas.co.za or follow Veritas on social media by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter. Add them to your circles on Google+. Join the conversation using #Veritas25.
Photo Captions
KWV Wines & Brandy team
Johann Fourie, Ulrich Hohns, Kobus van der Merwe, Pierre du Toit, Louwritz Louw, Winnie Bowman (Cape Wine Master), Wynand Storm, Lourens Stander, Pieter de Bod, Thornton Pillay, Anneke du Plessis, De Wet Hugo, Ilse du Toit, Izele van Blerk, Monique Fourie
Nederburg
Nederburg Natasha Boks, Samuel Viljoen
Spier
Spier Johann Smit, Frans Smit, Johan Jordaan
Best Performer
Best Performer Bennie Howard (Veritas), Johann Fourie (KWV), Abrie Beeslaar (Kanonkop)
Brandy
Back l to r Ilse du Toit (KWV), Lourens Stander (KWV), Wynand Storm (KWV), Charles Hopkins (Veritas chairman), Andre Simonis (Oude Molen), Riaan Bredell (Distell) and Bennie Howard (Veritas)
Front l to r Marlene Bester (Van Ryn), Mare-Loe Prinsloo (Distell), Winnie Bowman (Cape Wine Master), Pieter de Bod (KWV), Christelle Reade-Jahn (SA Brandy Foundation)