uniWines Vineyards Shows Quality Through Diversity with Michelangelo Success

Wednesday, 11 September, 2013
uniWines Vineyards
uniWines Vineyards from Rawsonville emphasised its reputation as a versatile producer of quality wines by winning two Gold Medals at this year's Michelangelo Wine Competition, together with Veritas recognised as South Africa's leading wine competition. The winery racked up Golds for the Daschbosch Plicatilis 2012, a classy blend of Shiraz, Mourvèdre and Viognier and for its popular light and fruity Palesa Moscato 2013.
This year's Michelangelo accolades follow on uniWines Vineyards success at last year's competition where it won the Trophy for Best Fairtrade Wine on the show.

According to Nicolaas Rust, Group Cellarmaster for uniWines Vineyards, the recipients of the Michelangelo Gold Medals are two very diverse wines, reflecting the winery's ability to produce a diverse range of wines without compromising quality.

"The Daschbosch Plicatilis SMV is an ambitious top-end wine given a thorough and meticulous oaking and blending treatment," says Rust. "To have this wine win a Gold in a category starring many of South Africa's top wines and wineries is really an honour for a winery such as uniWines Vineyards which makes no secret about being a volume producer."

The other Gold Medal vindicates uniWines Vineyards belief that the Moscato wine style is set to make major inroads, not only in the international market-place where this type of wine is booming in popularity, but locally as well.

"Made from Muscat d'Alexandrie, light and fruity with an alcohol level of 7,5%, Moscato is crafted for the today's easy-going and fashionable wine consumer," says Rust. "The Moscato wine style, originally produced in Italy, has taken the American and European wine worlds by storm and we see a tremendous future for South African Moscato. uniWines Vineyards Moscato is exceptionally popular among consumers and has built-up a loyal core of followers. And now that their wine has won a Michelangelo Gold Medal, these followers can rest assured that they are drinking a quality wine that has been recognised by a panel of international judges."

Pieter Cronjé, Marketing Manager at uniWines Vineyards, says recognition at competitions plays a very important role in achieving recognition for wines that could otherwise get lost among the clutter.

"With South Africa alone having over 6000 wine labels, a brand - especially a fairly new brand - will struggle to stand out in the over-crowded wine arena," says Cronjé. "The Michelangelo Competition is one of the country's leading indicators of wine quality, especially as all but one of the judges are from other countries, thereby bringing international palates to the table. Those of us who win awards see this recognition filtering to the local and international consumer, for whom competition medals are a very important indicator of quality."

uniWines Vineyards also won Michelangelo Silver Medals for the Daschbosch Procavia 2011 and the Palesa Husk Spirit.