This year’s Sauvignon Blanc Report sponsored by multinational financial services company Prescient attracted 91 Sauvignon Blanc entries, as well as 20 Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blends. These were tasted blind (labels out of sight) by a three-person panel, scoring done according to the 100-point quality scale.
Sauvignon Blanc Top 10
The Top 10 is as follows:
94
Diemersdal Reserve 2022
Diemersdal The Journal 2022
Du Toitskloof Old Vine 2022
Kruger Family Wines Old Vines 2021
Mellish Family Vineyards Blanc Fumé 2021
Vigne d' Or 2022 (Terre Paisible)
93
Allée Bleue Darling 2022
Diemersdal The Journal 2021
Von Blonde 2023
92
Buitenverwachting 2022
Sauv-Sem Top 6
The Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Top 6 is as follows:
95
Coterie by Wildeberg Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc 2022 – Sylvain Best Overall
94
Durbanville Hills The Tangram 2021
Journey's End Collectors Series Sauvignon Blanc Semillion 2022
Quoin Rock White Blend 2022
93
Boschendal Suzanne 2022
Bloemendal Kanonberg 2017
“One particularly striking aspect of this year’s Top 10 is that six of the wines were one year on from vintage, three were two years on and only one from 2023,” says Christian Eedes, editor of Winemag.co.za and panel chairman. “Hopefully this will demonstrate to consumers that the best examples of the variety really do benefit from some maturation.”
Wildeberg, as producer of the Sauv-Sem blend judged best overall, wins a new 225-litre Sylvain Blanc barrel worth €992 (the equivalent of R20 050 at the time of writing) from Tonnellerie Sylvain.
To read the report in full, including key findings, tasting notes for the top wines and scores on the 100-point quality scale for all wines entered, visit Winemag.co.za.