All the SA Young Wine Show trophy winners: Back, L to R: Willie Burger (Badsberg Cellar), Rianco van Rooyen (Robertson Winery), Justin Corrans (KWV), Johan Linde (Botha Cellar), Juandre Bruwer (Diemersdal), Christo Pienaar (chairman of the SA Young Wine Show), Daniel Slabber (Wellington Wines), Chris de Villiers (Montagu Winery), Breyton Milford (GM Agri-Expo), and Chris Geldenhuys (Aan de Doorns Winery).
Front, L to R: Izéle van Blerk (KWV), Richard Schroeder (Groot Phesantekraal), Vusi Dalicuba (Vergenoegd Löw), Edwin Grace and Edmund Terblanche (La Motte), Andri le Roux (Perdeberg), Kobus van der Merwe (KWV), Anthony Kock (Spier), and Lara Prins (Botha Cellar).
A Sémillon wine – from La Motte Wine Estate in Franschhoek – excelled by winning the prestigious General Smuts Trophy as the overall SA Champion Young Wine of 2025, after also being named as the country’s Best Sémillon at the SA Young Wine Show and thereby bagging this sought-after trophy for La Motte for the first time.
It is only the second time in more than 30 years that a Sémillon wine has gained this achievement. The previous time that a Sémillon won the Genl Smuts Trophy was with Flagstone Wines' Sémillon in 2010. The Genl Smuts Trophy was this year awarded for the 74th time, since the competition’s launch 193 years ago – thus known today as the oldest competition of its kind in the world.
At the same time, KWV received the Pietman Hugo Trophy for the winery achieving the highest total score for its five best wines entered. It is the second time that KWV walks away with this trophy after also clinching it in 2015. They excelled by winning three National Trophies, namely for the KWV Sauvignon Blanc, KWV Chardonnay (wooded) and KWV Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec/Petit Verdot (wooded).
LEFT: The General Smuts Trophy: La Motte Sémillon
Christo Pienaar (SA Young Wine Show), Edwin Grace and Edmund Terblanche (La Motte), and Breyton Milford (GM of Agri-Expo).
RIGHT: Pietman Hugo Trophy: KWV
Christo Pienaar (SA Young Wine Show), Izéle van Blerk and Justin Corrans (KWV), Elsabé Ferreira (SA Young Wine Show), Kobus van der Merwe (KWV), and Breyton Milford (GM of Agri-Expo).
Two other wineries also excelled by receiving two trophies each – Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate with the Champion Cabernet Sauvignon (wooded) and Champion Vintage Cape Style, while Botha Cellar bagged the Champion Other Red Cultivar trophy with a Ruby Cabernet (wooded) and Champion Dessert Wine with a Hanepoot Jerepigo.
This annual show for wines produced in the current vintage year is presented by the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) in collaboration with Agri-Expo.
The competition’s impressive array of trophies was awarded on 22 August at a glamorous function hosted by the Robertson Young Wine Show Association at The Venue outside the town. Altogether 52 wines achieved Class Winner Status and 131 received Gold Medals.
Like last year an increased number of entries were received – clear proof that the oldest wine show in the country is still gaining momentum. The judges agreed that the 2025 wines are of prime quality, while this year’s entries were also hailed as being of exceptional quality by all the winemakers.
This year’s 1 387 entries were adjudicated by 88 specialist judges on 13 panels. The judging took place over five days at the end of July in the Pavilion Hall at Nederburg in Paarl, before naming of the champions in 17 classes, as well as the two trophies for Best Wine and Best Producer respectively. The specialist panels comprised five members each and a sixth trainee taster joined each panel without their scores being calculated in the result.
A special bottle sticker was introduced in 2013 to feature on the winner of the Genl Smuts Trophy and thereby show off the overall best wine of the year in the marketplace. This has resulted in the bottling of more trophy winners as such in recent years, instead of ‘losing their identity’ by further blending.
The rest of the SA Champions are:
- Chenin Blanc: Spier Chenin Blanc (wooded)
- Other White Cultivar: Robertson Winery Colombard (wooded)
- White Blended Wine: Badsberg Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay (wooded)
- Natural Sweet Wine: Perdeberg Natural Sweet White Wine (wooded)
- Noble Late Harvest Wine: Groot Phesantekraal: NLH (wooded)
- Shiraz: Diemersdal Shiraz (wooded)
- Pinotage: Wellington Wines Pinotage (wooded)
- Merlot: Montagu Winery Merlot
- Muscadel: Aan de Doorns Red Muscadel Jerepigo
The Paarl wine region excelled by winning six National Trophies, followed by Breedekloof/Worcester and Stellenbosch with four each and Klein-Karoo, Robertson and an individual entry made directly to the national show, with one each.
The chairperson of the SA Young Wine Show, Christo Pienaar, described the quality of this year’s young wines as particularly high. This, thanks to it being one of the best vintage years with excellent climatic conditions which yielded beautiful, flavoursome wines and reds with markedly deep colours. Consumers can look forward to quality wines to be enjoyed when reaching the market as bottled products. “It is gratifying that the national winners are from all over the country’s wine production areas, as well as a variety of winery types. I take pleasure in congratulating all the wineries with their achievements and want to thank them for their ongoing support.”
The organisers emphasised that the SA Young Wine Show is largely supported by suppliers to the industry and the competition’s financial partners from last year have once again committed themselves to building it out. The five companies involved are all well-known in the industry, namely Porex, Anchor Oenology, Enartis, Laffort and Nexus. Their highly appreciated contributions will ensure a bright future for the Young Wine Show, known as “the jewel of the industry”.
Overseas visits for top winemakers
One winemaker each from La Motte Estate and KWV, as winners of the Genl Smuts and Pietman Hugo Trophies respectively, can look forward to a sponsored six-day overseas trip, thanks to a partnership since 2019 between SANWSA and Porex – a prominent Paarl-based supplier of machinery, winemaking equipment and viticultural products to the industry.
For more information, contact the SA Young Wine office at tel 021 863 1599 or email info@veritas.co.za, or visit www.youngwineshow.co.za.
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Photo captions:
Photo 1: The General Smuts Trophy: La Motte Sémillon
Christo Pienaar (SA Young Wine Show), Edwin Grace and Edmund Terblanche (La Motte), and Breyton Milford (GM of Agri-Expo).
Photo 2: Pietman Hugo Trophy: KWV
Christo Pienaar (SA Young Wine Show), Izéle van Blerk and Justin Corrans (KWV), Elsabé Ferreira (SA Young Wine Show), Kobus van der Merwe (KWV), and Breyton Milford (GM of Agri-Expo).
Photo 3: Sponsors
Pieter Rossouw (Porex), Lida Malandra (Enartis), Christo Pienaar (Chairman SA Young Wine Show), Erica Crafford (Porex), Morné Kemp (Laffort), Bennie Howard (Vice chairman of SA Young Wine Show) and Danie Malherbe (Anchor Oenology)
Photo 4: SA Young Wine Show and AgriExpo, patron of the SA Young Wine Show
Christo Pienaar, Breyton Milford (GM) and Chris Fourie (president), and Bennie Howard.