Diemersdal Estate was one of only nine South African wineries to mine a piece of gold at the international Sauvignon Selection by CMB competition, formerly known as Concours Mondial du Sauvignon. Diemersdal Wild Horseshoe Sauvignon Blanc 2022, a wild-fermented wine given complexity through skin-contact and wood aging, took a Gold medal at the Sauvignon Selection by CMB, which was this year held in Steiermark in Austria.
The latest vintage, Diemersdal Wild Horseshoe Sauvignon blanc 2023, won a Silver medal.
Some 1 285 Sauvignon Blanc wines from around the world were judged for the global showcase this year, which saw 56 international tasters from 27 countries scrutinising the wines.
Diemersdal owner-winemaker Thys Louw says this competition might be under a new name but it maintains the reputation of excellence in wine judging it has built-up under the name Concours Mondial du Sauvignon.
"Now known as Sauvignon Selection by CMB, this show is the ultimate platform for the judging of Sauvignon Blanc," says Louw, "and to once again achieve a Gold medal among the world's best wines is an enormous honour for myself and my team at Diemersdal, as well as for the estate's winemaking legacy."
Wild Horseshoe Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is made from grapes grown on Diemersdal's dryland vineyards planted to soils of decomposed granite. After harvesting, destemming and crushing the juice spent 96 hours on the skins to draw texture and flavour complexity. The juice was drawn off and fermented with natural yeasts in older 500l barrels of French oak. Once fermented, the wine spent a further 11 months in these barrels.
Wild Horseshoe offers another distinctive expression of the Sauvignon Blanc grape to which Diemersdal is committed, and wines made in these styles are being increasingly recognised by wine consumers and judges alike. Diemersdal Wild Horseshoe Sauvignon Blanc 2022, for example, landed a top-scoring 5-star accolade in this year's Platter's South African Wine Guide.