Special Award winners: Four categories namely Wine Consistency; Vineyard Consistency; Grand Cru Best In Class; and Wine Of The Year: Red, White, Sweet and Bubbly.
Double Gold Medal award results will be released on Friday, 20 June.
Robin von Holdt reviews special awards for the 15th National Wine Challenge (NWC) 2025
The four special awards categories that the NWC tracks and awards are the critical long-term benchmarks that separate great wines from the rest. The core components of fine-wine performance are validated by each of these categories, with each one being both distinctive and unique. They are the underpinning, crucial parts of the recognition process that lead to a trustworthy and recognised fine wine brand and status. Regardless of wine style, vineyard situation, cultivar, region, or country of origin, these are the four critical qualities that will underpin recognisable fine wine status and lend credence to this claim.
It is a challenging and it can be a contentious and vivid debate amongst wine aficionados. However, there are agreed-upon mainstream pointers. Great vineyard sites are a cornerstone. Planted with appropriate cultivars, clonal selection, and the application of best-practice vineyard management. These assure a solid start with excellent potential.
Thereafter, leadership that encourages and further develops best practices both in the vineyards and the cellar makes a positive difference. Critical too are top-quality, highly trained staff who apply teamwork towards a common goal of ‘best in class’ results. Thus, attracting and retaining the best vineyard people is also critical to success. All of this requires investment in and leveraging modern technology and daily practices that aid all the viticulture and wine-making processes.
This focus, the stages and steps required, all help to drive exceptional long-term wine performance.
We now present the detail behind each of the various measurements and achievements, that result in select wineries gaining these four unique, prestigious awards.
Wine Consistency Awards
We identify a single wine’s consistent top performance in this category and then reward it. There are just a handful of wines that have achieved a significant number of Top 100 winning positions in SA over the entire fifteen-year period. Currently, there are just three fine wines that occupy the overall leading positions, measured by their multiple of annual Top 100 SA winning wine podium positions. These consistent top performances are tremendous reputation boosts for each winemaker or cellarmaster, as well as for their entire winery teams. Each win is exceptionally desirable given that awarded wines at this highest level are just so scarce. A winning track record gives undisputed recognition and provides a blue-chip rank which supports the claim of fine-wine status. Great pride is taken by each winning winery and team, which receives one of these remarkable wine consistency accolades.
Vineyard Consistency Awards
The consistent achievement of making top-quality wines, as measured by benchmark accolades, is a characteristic that underpins the world’s greatest vineyards. Often, it will take decades of investment and hard work to be in a position to potentially earn such blue-chip status. Once earned, the case is a proven fact. The NWC assess and awards only those top-performing vineyards that have delivered a spread of awarded Top 100 winning wines over a considerable period. Currently. this implies over the full 15 years of this leading fine-wine competition's history. Thus, for 2025 there are now just 3 vineyards in leading positions. They each enjoy between 56 and 62 winning wines. Such a categorical long-term out-performance is truly a remarkable achievement. Particularly so, given the very stiff competition that each winner faces. It is a huge endorsement of each winning vineyard’s terroir, of their high-calibre vineyard and cellar teams, as well as recognising the truly exceptional winemaking skills involved.
Grand Cru 'Best in Class' awards
The panels of highly regarded judges are well equipped to be able to identify with great accuracy that one, single wine in each flight, that offers truly compelling qualities. It is the singular, finest example of its cultivar, or, of its blend category. The top 100 winning wines are all outstanding expressions, falling definitively into the special fine-wine category so instantly recognisable. However, it is always that single solitary wine that simply offers something additional, something truly special about its assured attractiveness, that will capture the panels attention. Thereby, gaining the Grand Cru ‘Best in Class’ Award. Judges view it as a real treat and a privilege to taste this final, remarkable flight of exceptionally well-made Grand Cru winning wines. Layered, textured, enough palate weight, these wines are complex, nuanced, and show remarkable length, together with that ultimate fine wine character and underpin: Exceptional balance.
Wine of the Year awards: Red, white, bubbly and sweet wine
Just five years ago, in 2020, we added this fourth category to our Special Awards programme. Certainly, it was an appropriate and timely step, given the successful length of the NWC’s track record. It was also a demonstration of the NWC’s commitment to recognise and reward excellence in our winemaking community and in the SA wine industry. Because of this step, we now identify and award these iconic wines during the judging process. It is a celebration of these four individual wines that stand apart from others. A separate and unique identity, which is distinct from all the other very fine wines and praiseworthy awards. A solitary white wine and a solitary red wine, a single bubbly and a single sweet wine, that each achieve the single highest judged score in their generic group during the 2025 NWC competition, are the winners.
These once-off achievements bring an additional endorsement and level of recognition to winning vineyards and to their winemaking teams. They offer distinctive and tangible brand value as well as a commercial benefit. Each one of these awards offers a further and final enhancement of credibility and reputation. They yield positive local market impact together with an enhanced global awareness and brand footprint. They also provide the winning vineyards' brands uniqueness, points of differentiation, and enhanced status.
We state with confidence that all the NWC Special Awards aid positively the SA fine-wine category. They endorse both globally and locally the general success, reputation and upward trajectory of SA fine wines.
Kudos, thumbs, up and absolute respect to each well-deserved winner!
WINE CONSISTENCY AWARDS
Top three place winners for the fifteen-year period 2010 to 2025:
- Raka Biography Shiraz (1st Place)
- De Krans Cape Vintage Reserve (2nd Place)
- Saronsberg Full Circle (3rd Place)
VINEYARD CONSISTENCY AWARDS
The ‘Top 3’ places for the 15 year period from 2010 to 2025:
- Alvi's Drift Private Cellar (1st place - 62 wins)
- Fairview Wines (2nd place - 58 wins)
- Paul Cluver (3rd place - 56 wins)
GRAND CRU AWARDS
‘Best in Class’ winning wines per cultivar or blend
Quotes from winning vineyards who achieved these awards:
Groot Constantia
Groot Constantia Cabernet Sauvignon
Groot Constantia Grand Constance
Jean Naude, CEO: "We are honoured to receive the Grand Cru National Champion accolade for two of our wines. It reflects our dedication and continued pursuit of excellence in every vintage."
Almenkerk Wine Estate
Almenkerk Sauvignon Blanc
Michael Keown, viticulturist: “Watching our 20‑year‑old, sustainably farmed vines deliver Sauvignon Blanc of the Year is a career high. Proud and totally chuffed for our team and their hard work – this award starts in the soil and ends in the glass.”
De Krans
De Krans Tritonia Calitzdorp Blend
Christoff de Wet, Winemaker: "We are absolutely thrilled to have received the Grand Cru National Champion for Best in Class with the Tritonia Red Portuguese blend 2023! This just shows once again of the quality of wines and port style wines we produce here in Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo. Like I always say, we are the biggest little winery in the world from the Klein Karoo in the heart of the Klein Karoo, Calitzdorp!"
Fairview Wines
Fairview Extrano
Annette Van Zyl and Anthony De Jager, winemakers: "We as a team are elated that the Extrano performed so well this year at the awards, especially since it is a unique blend for SA with Tempranillo as base. "
Jakkalsvlei Private Cellar
Lord Jackal Chardonnay
Jakkalsvlei Mount Cuvee
Lord Jackal Cabernet Franc
Louis van der Riet, winemaker: "We are again thrilled about this year's 2025 NWC results. After having two top 100 wines last year with our Cape Blend leading the pack as Grand Cru winner, I mentioned we were excited that after years of hard work, trying to find our place in the Cape wine Colosseum as a new and unrecognized producer we were ecstatic to be part of the prestigious top 100 SA Wines. This year we continued to build on that foundation, receiving recognition for three of our wines being added to the Top 100 best South African wines list. Showing consistency, our 2023 Cape Blend – a blend of Pinotage from Herbertsdale and Shiraz form Herbertsdale and Langeberg-Garcia ward – was again awarded with the prestigious Grand Cru title, and this year turning our last Year Top 100 recognised Lord Jackal Cabernet Franc 2022 into a Grand Cru best in class winner with our Lord Jackal Cabernet Franc 2023. 2023 was a drier and warmer start to the season, and the wines from this vintage show a bit more richness and texture than the 2022 vintage that was hammered with rain at the end of the season. Our 2024 Lord Jackal Chardonnay completely exceeded expectations by jumping from a Double Gold-winning wine last year to be added to the Top 100 Wines list and doing so in spectacular fashion and claiming the Grand Cru best in class honours. Truly an unforgettable achievement and I can not be happier with the results and the overall performance of our wines."
Klein Amoskuil
Tarentaal Kwaal Organic Bush Vine Mourvèdre
Louis van der Riet, winemaker: “This is a big one for us. Mourvèdre is the quiet workhorse of our farm - rooted deep, quietly consistent. To see it named Best in Class and Grand Cru Champion is an honour we carry with pride, and a tribute to the land we farm.”
Nicholson Smith Agencies
Integer SMC Rhone Red
Jason Neal, owner: "We are honoured that our wines have been recognized with such prestigious industry awards. Our Integer SMC Rhone Red has been awarded Grand Cru National Champion – best in class, and 10 other wines have been awarded with Double Platinum and Double Gold awards. This achievement is particularly gratifying given the caliber of the competition.
We extend our sincere appreciation to the tasting panel for acknowledging the dedication and craftsmanship that define our wines.
Furthermore, we express our deepest gratitude to our exceptional winemaking team. Their unwavering passion and commitment to excellence are the foundation of this success. We are immensely proud to share this achievement with such a dedicated team."
Oak Valley Estate
Oak Valley Groenlandberg Pinot Noir
Jacques du Plessis: "What an amazing honour to receive this prestigious award! From what was a vintage that definitely had its challenges, we thankfully harvested our Pinot Noir in excellent condition and expressive of this unique season. This goes to every dedicated pair of hands in the vineyard and winery that assisted!"
Rietvallei Wine Estate
Rietvallei 1908 Muscadel
Kobus Burger, CEO and winemaker: "Thank you, National Wine Challenge, for naming our Rietvallei 1908 Muscadel 2021 as Grand Cru National Champion and Best in Class. We are truly honoured by this exceptional recognition of our passion and dedication to winemaking."
Van Loveren Family Vineyards
Christiena 9 Barrels Pinotage
VRL Merlot
Phillip Retief, managing director: "To have both our Christina 9 Barrels Pinotage and Van Loveren Merlot named Grand Cru National Champion Best in Class – and also placed in the Top 100 – is a proud moment for the team. It highlights not only the calibre of the wines themselves but also the strength of the vision we’ve pursued. A few years ago, we made bold, strategic choices: investing in new vineyards, pioneering innovative trellising systems like vine-by-pole in the Robertson area, and strengthening our viticulture and winemaking teams. These awards affirm that those decisions are paying dividends."
The full list of the winning Grand Cru wines
Bordeaux Blend Red Babylonstoren Nebukadnesar
Cabernet Sauvignon Groot Constantia Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc Lord Jackal Cabernet Franc
Cape Blend Jakkalsvlei Mount Cuvee
Chardonnay Lord Jackal Chardonnay
Chenin Blanc Alvi's Drift Private Cellar Albertus Viljoen Chenin Blanc
Cinsault Bellevue Cinsault
Fortified Rietvallei 1908 Muscadel
Malbec Vrede en Lust Malbec
MCC & Sparkling Beck Family Estates Graham Beck Cuvee Clive
Merlot VRL Merlot
Mourvedre Tarentaal Kwaal Organic Bush Vine Mourvedre
Natural Sweet Groot Constantia Grand Constance
Other Red Blend De Krans Tritonia Calitzdorp Blend
Other Red Blend Fairview Extrano
Other White Blend Vrede en Lust Barrique
Pinot Noir Oak Valley Groenlandberg Pinot Noir
Pinotage Christiena 9 Barrels Pinotage
Port Boplaas Cape Tawny Colheita
Riesling Lothian of Elgin Riesling
Rhone Blend Integer SMC Rhone Red
Rose' Vintage Mashup Chardonnay/Pinot Noir
Sauvignon Blanc Almenkerk Sauvignon Blanc
Semillon Holden Manz Semillon Reserve
Shiraz Raka Biography Shiraz
Viognier Alvi’s Drift Reserve Viognier
WINE OF THE YEAR AWARD
WHITE: Joint winners
Albertus Viljoen Chenin Blanc 2023
Vrede en Lust Barrique 2022
RED
Raka Biography Shiraz 2022
SWEET
Boplaas Cape Tawny Colheita 2005
BUBBLY
Graham Beck Cuvee Clive 2019
WHITE WINE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Vrede en Lust
Vrede en Lust Barrique (Joint winner)
Karlin Nel, winemaker: "We are deeply honored that our Vrede en Lust Barrique 2022, a careful blend of 90% Sémillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc, has been named White Wine of the Year – Joint Winner. This award recognises the vibrant interplay between the rich, textural Sémillon and the bright, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc, capturing the purity of our Elgin vineyards. It’s a testament to the passion and precision of our entire vineyard and winemaking teams."
Alvi's Drift Private Cellar
Albertus Viljoen Chenin Blanc (Joint winner)
Alvi van der Merwe, Owner: "To be awarded White Wine of the Year, along with Top 100 and Double Platinum, is an extraordinary honour for Alvi’s Drift. This recognition affirms the vision we’ve held from the beginning: to craft wines of exceptional character and consistency. Every vintage is a reflection of our land, our people, and our pursuit of excellence - and this year’s results celebrate that journey."
RED WINE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Raka Wine
Raka Biography Shiraz 2022
Josef Dreyer, winemaker: "We are thrilled that Raka Biography Shiraz 2022 has been awarded Red Wine of the Year, Best in Class, Top 100, and Double Platinum! This outstanding recognition is a proud milestone in our winemaking journey. At Raka, we are passionate about consistency and quality, and this award reaffirms that dedication. Raka Biography Shiraz is more than a vintage – it’s a reflection of the hard work, craftsmanship, and heart of our entire team. We are incredibly proud and grateful for this achievement. Here's to raising the bar, one bottle at a time!"
SWEET WINE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Boplaas Cellar
Boplaas Cape Tawny Colheita 2005
Made from Tinta Barocca and Touriga Nacional grapes, the 2005 Colheita Cape Tawny was aged for 16 years in barrels. It was made in the classic drier Portuguese style. In glass, it shows a fiery red-brown colour with flecks of olive green on the rim. The bouquet unfurls with notes of walnut, roast almond, butterscotch, spices, citrus, brandy and charred oak. The name Colheita is Portuguese for harvest or vintage.
MCC WINE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Graham Beck
Cuvée Clive 2019
In the glass, this Cap Classique looks youthful and exuberant, with a brilliant, bright and almost luminescent yellow hue and a slight tinge of green on the meniscus in the glass. A constant string of tiny bubbles rises to the surface, forming a gentle yet persistent mouse. On the nose, aromas of white peach, fresh pears, granny smith apples and lemon zest abound, with undertones of roasted nuts, brioche, and hints of spice developing as the wine opens up in the glass.
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