Winners of the Malbec Challenge 2021

Tuesday, 2 November, 2021

Malbec Challenge

DA Hanekom Familie Wyne Langrug Malbec 2018 is the overall winner of the Malbec Challenge 2021.

The Malbec Challenge is an initiative which is independently run by Events by Celia. The aim is to shine the light on the smaller varieties like Malbec.

The competition is run professionally and according to the international standards. The aim is to do this at the least expense to the wineries and there is no expectation of extra stock other than the 2 bottles delivered for the judging.

A word from the panel

In its 3rd year of running, the 2021 Malbec Challenge had its highest number of entries to date, 32 wines from the 2015 to 2020 vintages, which is just over half of the Malbecs listed in the current Platter Guide. Particularly pleasing was the increase in first-time entries, and in fact one of them, DA Hanekom Familie Wyne Langrug Malbec 2018 from Durbanville was the overall winner.

Judging took place on October 21st in Cape Town. There were 14 gold medals (90+ points) awarded by the three internationally experienced judges Carrie Adams from Johannesburg, and Cape Wine Masters Ginette de Fleuriot and Christine Rudman, the panel chair. The judging out of 100 points was done blind with no regional or vintage information, and monitored by auditor Niel de Kock from Cecil Kilpin.

Commenting on the quality of the wines, the panel agreed that the majority had plushness, good berry expression and lovely drinkability. The producers who did best respected the variety’s succulence by careful oaking so as not to overwhelm the fruit. While Malbec is a Bordeaux variety, the danger can be to treat it like its 4 siblings, Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot, by use of new oak or long barrel ageing, and there were a few such examples in the tasting.

A juicy, soft-skinned variety, Malbec requires care in the vineyard to avoid over-cropping or sunburn damage, and in the cellar quick and careful fermentation to prevent oxidation.

The winning winery (highest score overall) receives a Tonnellerie De Mercurey barrel of either 225, 228 or 300L according to their requirement, thanks to RX South Africa, the Malbec Challenge sponsor since 2019. The oak comes from three different French forests, to create a wide range of barrel styles and qualities for international wine cellar requirements, with the stave mill located in Champagne. While RX usually also sponsored the awards lunch, it was decided to donate that sum this year to Food for Hope Carmen Stevens Foundation which supplies breakfast and lunch to school children.

About the winning winery and wine

DA Hanekom Familie Wyne is a small, independent wine producer established in 2016 by the husbandand-wife team of Andri and Yvette Hanekom.” What started off as a hobby, quickly became a small business for the couple as their passion and drive to produce wines of exceptional quality continued to grow. During a decade of farming within the wine industry, producing and acquiring grapes for different prestigious cellars, Andri became familiar with a wide range of different parcels of vines in the Cape Winelands. This knowledge became invaluable in obtaining the grapes necessary to produce a growing, high-end range of wines.

The couple view their wines as a respectful embodiment of the terroir of the farms on which the grapes were grown, as well as the hard work of the individuals who tended to the vines and wine.

DA Hanekom Familie Wyne is steeped in a long and proud history of agriculture, on both sides of the family. Paying homage to the different agricultural regions in their family history, the couple named their wines after the beautiful Karoo farms where they spent many of their holidays.

The simplicity of the brand’s labelling hides the complexity of the wine within, much like delicate and complex ecosystems make up the seemingly barren beauty of the Karoo.

The Malbec is sourced from Bloemendal Wine Estate, were Andri works fulltime as the General Manager and Cellar Master. There is 1 ha of Malbec planted on the estate. The wine was made as an experiment to better the quality of Bloemendal’s waterlily brand. The wine turned out to be too good to disappear into a larger blend, and it was decided to bottle this limited release Malbec under the “D.A. Hanekom Familie Wyne”.