The national champions, which are chosen from the regional winners, will then be named on Monday 30 August at an event where the winner of the General Smuts Trophy for the overall best young wine of 2021 is announced. Also at stake is the Pietman Hugo Trophy for the cellar with the five best entries.
This decision has been taken to avoid possible confusion regarding the announcement of regional champions which takes place in the eight different regions, as opposed to the national champions which are announced later.The naming of the regional champions is thus seen as a build-up to the announcement of the national winners.
The SA Young Wine Show gives winemakers the opportunity to measure up their different young wines, experimental styles and new cultivars against their peers and thereby also evaluate the quality of current vintage year’s young wines.
The 17 classes in which the entries compete for SA Champion status, are the white wine divisions Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Sémillon, Other White Cultivars, Dry White Blends, Off-dry White Wines and Noble Late Harvest; and red wines Best Pinotage, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Other Red Cultivars and Dry Red Blends. The fortified wine class trophies comprise outstanding Cape Port Style, Dessert Wine and Muscadel.
All the young wines entered from the different regions, are judged by 14 panels in their respective classes. The best wines from each of the 17 classes are then each presented to a new panel tasked to choose the overall best wine from them as overall champion of the year.
This year 1162 wines have been entered by 86 cellars, from which 45 class winners and 73 gold medal winners were chosen.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LIST OF 2021 REGIONAL YOUNG WINE SHOW CHAMPIONS
The SA Young Wine Show is one of the world’s oldest wine competitions, dates back to 1833 and is thus in its 189th year. The Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society– which in 1996 established the marketing name Agri-Expo – has been actively involved with the Young Wine Show since its inception as owner of this remarkable competition and has continued its commitment also as custodian to this day.
In the process, Agri-Expo has entrusted the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) as organiser with the most impressive array of gold and silver trophies, which are awarded each year to the winning winemakers.
For more information, contact the SA Young Wine office at tel 021 863 1599 or e-mail info@veritas.co.za. or visit www.youngwineshow.co.za.
Follow SA Young Wine Awards on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SouthAfricanYoungWineShow) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/SAYoungWine).
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