Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show Awards 2010
OLD MUTUAL TROPHY WINE SHOW AWARDS 2010
A NEWCOMER ASCENDS THE THRONE
The waiting is over. Tokara, regarded for some time as one of South Africa's premier cellars, celebrated the tenth anniversary of its first bottling by winning the Fairbairn Capital Trophy for the Most Successful Producer at the 2010 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. In a substantial leap from fifth position overall in 2009, Tokara finished a considerable distance ahead of its nearest competitor by winning trophies for its Director's Reserve White 2008, Pinotage 2007 and Museum Class Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, as well as two silver awards. The result was a personal triumph for winemaker Miles Mossop and his colleague, viticulturist Aidan Morton, both of whom have been with Tokara since 2000. Chamonix secured second position in the top producer rankings, followed by Rijk's Private Cellar in third position and KWV in fourth.
The Show also saw trophies awarded for the first time in several of the smaller classes, such as Viognier and Malbec. The Just Riesling Trophy - sponsored by the Cape's (Rhine) Riesling producers in an endeavour to raise the profile of true Riesling in a country where the authorities have, until recently, permitted the sale of Crouchen Blanc under the Riesling name - was won this year by Klein Constantia. A new trophy for Chenin Blanc was presented under the name of the late Harold Eedes who, as publisher of WINE magazine (and co-founder of the Show), played a key role in enhancing awareness of the variety's potential in South Africa. The Harold Eedes Trophy for Chenin Blanc was won by Rijk's, a previous gold medallist in the class. In addition, a Verdelho won a trophy in a newly created category designed to accommodate gold-medal-quality wines in classes too small and too unusual to justify a separate trophy category. The Best Niche White Variety Trophy was presented to Feiteiras Vineyards.
A noteworthy feature of this year's show was the strong showing in Museum Classes, where seven of a total of 39 entries won gold medals, of which six were trophies. Museum Class entries must be at least four years old - in the case of white wines - and at least eight years old in all other categories. This result suggests that Cape wines are capable of considerable improvement in the bottle and contradicts what has been conventional wisdom up to now.
This year's competition yielded 32 gold medals in total. The silver medal count of 89 was 19 higher than in 2009 and more than at any previous show except 2002. The bronze medal tally of 329 compares with 331 in 2009.
Co-convenor of the competition (together with WINE magazine) and Chairman of the Judges, Michael Fridjhon comments: "The clear signs of an overall quality improvement at the top of the wine market - which we have seen for some time and on which we commented last year - continue to dominate these results. There has been a good spread of medals across several classes, with a better showing among red wines than at any time over the past five years. The pleasing improvement in Pinotage - long regarded as one of the least consumer-friendly categories - suggests that producers have taken to heart some of the criticism previously voiced about fruit handling. The wealth of medals - especially among the younger vintages - in the Shiraz class shows that producers are now coming to terms with the variety, and getting the most out of the more established vineyards."
Stephen Cahill, OMSA Marketing Director at Old Mutual comments: "Through the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, excellence is promoted in the local wine industry enabling international and local wine connoisseurs to pool their wisdom together for the benefit of South African consumers and winemakers".
Within the next two weeks, a series of tastings will be taken to six major centres countrywide including a Masterclass® in Windhoek in June. Wine lovers in Cape Town and Johannesburg will be able to taste 119 trophy, gold, silver and some museum class medal winning wines at public tastings. A free copy of ICONS, the official guide to the competition, will be available in the June issue of WINE magazine, on sale now.
2010 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show Public Tastings
119 trophy, gold and silver medal winning wines will be presented at public tastings in Cape Town and Johannesburg:
Johannesburg: Friday 21 May 2010, 18h00 to 21h00 - Ballroom, Hilton Sandton
Cape Town: Friday 28 May 2010, 17h00 to 20h00 - Jasminium & Clivia Rooms, CTICC
Ticket Sales: ‘Early bird' tickets bought by 19 May will cost R90 each and tickets sold thereafter and at the door, R120 per person. Bookings can be made via Computicket by telephoning 083 915 8000, or (011) 340 8000 or online: www.computicket.com.
Wine Sales: Wines can be ordered at the shows, with delivery to your door.
THE AUDITED* RESULTS OF 2010 OLD MUTUAL TROPHY WINE SHOW
The Trophy Winners
Fairbairn Capital Trophy for the Most Successful Producer 2010: Tokara
Old Mutual Trophy for Best Red Wine Overall: Eagles' Nest Shiraz 2008
Old Mutual Trophy for Best White Wine Overall: Flagstone Word of Mouth Viognier 2008
Old Mutual Trophy for Discovery of the Show (Best Value): Pulpit Rock Reserve Chardonnay 2008
Old Mutual Trophy for Best Sparkling Wine: Anura Brut 2008
American Express Trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon: Stark-Condé Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
British Airways Comair Trophy for Best Shiraz: Eagles' Nest Shiraz 2008
Miele Trophy for Best Wooded Chardonnay: Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2009
Grande Roche Trophy for Best White Blend (Wooded): Tokara Director's Reserve White 2008
Riedel Trophy for Best Bordeaux-style Red Blend: Neil Ellis Woolworths Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Reserve 2007
Just Riesling Trophy for Best Riesling: Klein Constantia Rhine Riesling 2009
Harold Eedes Trophy for Best Chenin Blanc: Rijk's Chenin Blanc with a Touch of Oak 2009
Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc (Unwooded): Cederberg Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Trophy for Best Semillon: KWV The Mentors Semillon 2009
Trophy for Best Viognier: Flagstone Word of Mouth Viognier 2008
Trophy for Best Niche White Variety: Feiteiras Verdelho 2009
Trophy for Best Pinot Noir: Chamonix Reserve Pinot Noir 2008
Trophy for Best Pinotage: Tokara Pinotage 2007
Trophy for Best Malbec: Vrede en Lust Mocholate Malbec 2009
Trophy for Best Pinotage-based Red Blend: Kaapzicht Steytler Vision 2006
Trophy for Best Museum Class Sauvignon Blanc (Unwooded): Cape Point Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Trophy for Best Museum Class Chardonnay (Wooded): Chamonix Reserve Chardonnay 2005
Trophy for Best Museum Class Semillon: Cape Point Semillon 2005
Trophy for Best Museum Class White Blend (Wooded): Cape Point Isliedh 2006
Trophy for Best Museum Class Dessert Wine: Nuy White Muscadel 1988
Trophy for Best Museum Class Cabernet Sauvignon: Tokara Cabernet Sauvignon 2001
OTHER GOLD MEDAL WINNERS:
Cape Point Isliedh 2005
Dunstone Shiraz 2008
Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Chardonnay 2009
Land of Hope Chenin Blanc 2008
Lanzerac Pionier Pinotage 2007
Manley Pinotage 2005
Pulpit Rock Reserve Chardonnay 2008
Rijk's Reserve Chardonnay 2007
Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Pinotage 2007
Zonnebloem Laureat 2007 (Disqualified and withdrawn)
A full set of results including the silver and bronze medals, a transcript of the judges' feedback session and a variety of statistics are available here.
Chartered accountants PKF monitored the judging procedures at the 2010 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and audited the competition results. Throughout the judging the identity of the wines was withheld from all the tasters, including the Show Chairman. No one judge was in a position to impose a result upon a majority of the panellists and declarations of interest have been received from all the locally-based judges.
