The achievement is particularly significant at a competition with a remarkable history. The SA National Young Wine Show is South Africa’s oldest wine show, dating back to 1833, and has long served as an important platform for recognising quality in young South African wines and fortified wines.
Among Boplaas Family Vineyards' six Gold medals was its Souzão, a dry red wine made from the Portuguese cultivar that has found an ideal home in the warm, dry climate of Calitzdorp. Souzão forms an important component of Boplaas’s Ring of Rocks, a Portuguese-inspired red blend which was awarded Double Gold at Veritas in 2025.
The remaining Gold medals were awarded to Boplaas’s Cape Ports in both the Young Vintage Port and Tawny Port classes. The Young Vintage Port is particularly important as these young wines form the foundation for future releases of Boplaas’s acclaimed Cape Vintage Reserve Ports.
Boplaas’s Cape Vintage Reserve 2024 was earlier recognised as the Top Vintage Reserve Port in South Africa at the National Wine Challenge, further highlighting the consistency and quality of the estate’s Port production.
The Boplaas Cape Tawny also took Gold at the Young Wine Show. The wine was recently named South Africa’s Best Cape Tawny at the National Wine Challenge and received a Double Gold medal at Veritas in 2025.
Boplaas also received a Silver medal for its Alvarinho, another Portuguese cultivar that is proving particularly well suited to the unique terroir of the Klein Karoo. The variety produces a fresh, expressive white wine that adds another dimension to Boplaas’s portfolio of Portuguese varieties.
At the heart of Boplaas’s continued exploration of Portuguese cultivars is winemaker Margaux Nel, a sixth-generation member of the Nel family. Margaux completed her MSc research on Touriga Nacional, widely regarded as the king of Portuguese red grape varieties.
Touriga Nacional plays a major role in Portugal’s great red blends and is also an important component of Boplaas’s Cape Vintage Reserve Ports.
“Portuguese varieties have been part of Boplaas’s identity for generations, but we continue to learn more about what these varieties can achieve in the Klein Karoo,” says Margaux Nel. “The combination of our warm, dry climate, unique terroir and generations of experience with fortified wines gives us an exciting opportunity to produce wines that are distinctly South African while retaining their Portuguese heritage.”
The six Gold and three Silver medals at the 2026 SA National Young Wine Show add to a growing list of accolades for Boplaas’s wines and fortified wines, reinforcing the Calitzdorp estate’s reputation as one of South Africa’s leading producers of Cape Port and Portuguese-inspired wines.