The highly regarded competition boasted its toughest South African field yet, with a 13.5% increase in entries and only 7 red wines achieving a judges score of “Gold - Outstanding”. This rating is awarded to wines which are scored as 93+ Points on the 100 Point scale and are described as “Quality of the highest order” by the IWSC.The Ernie Els Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 was the only pure Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa to receive this coveted award and is a nod to the years of precision and focus exercised by Louis Strydom and his team at the winery. Strydom has been focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet lead blends for close to 2 decades at the Helderberg Estate and this award adds to a well-stocked trophy cabinet accumulated over this time.“The wheel turns slowly when it comes to winemaking and it takes years before the changes we have been making in the vineyards and cellar can be appreciated by our clients and judges around the world”, said Strydom, “The 2016 vintage has seen the inclusion of some of our newer clonal material into the final wine and we are ecstatic with this result.”Also scoring well with the judges was the Ernie Els Signature 2014 which was one of six South African Cabernet dominated blends to score between 90-92.9 points and receive a Gold Medal from the IWSC. The Signature is the flagship wine from the Ernie Els stable and the 2014 is the latest release of this highly acclaimed wine with previous vintages having scored 94 Points at Wine Spectator and multiple 5 Stars from John Platter to name a few.“Over the past 18 years we have always remained true to crafting wines that are a true reflection of our sites, slopes and soils which are best suited to fine Cabernet and it is rewarding to be recognised at such a prestigious international competition”.Ernie Els Wines is a 70 Hectare estate on the Helderberg Mountain and has 60% of its vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon with a total of 11 separate Cabernet Sauvignon clones making up these plantings.Stellenbosch has cemented itself as the cradle of Cabernet in South Africa which is re-affirmed by the IWSC as 5 of the 6 pure Cabernet Sauvignons which scored Gold or higher are from Stellenbosch.