Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2006

2006 SHOW REVIEW
BY MICHAEL FRIDJHON, CHAIRMAN OF THE JUDGES

The Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show identifies the best wines from a show submission of nearly 1000 entries: the judges are directed to separate the medal winners from the other contestants, and to divide these laureates across three medal classes. Unsurprisingly, certain categories consistently out-perform others: over the five years of the show's existence, Cabernet and Cabernet-based blends have always garnered at least one gold medal while Chardonnay has had something of an erratic history. Sauvignon Blanc has battled to collect gold at some shows while Port, wood-aged white blends and Semillon have substantially out-performed their weight of entries.

In 2006 there was an encouraging Sauvignon Blanc group, a much improved Chardonnay class, some lovely oaked white blends, a marked improvement in the Shiraz class, several exciting red blends and some interesting small red varietal classes. What the judges didn't see was the usual array of spectacular (and often under-rated) dessert wines, a wealth of quality Cabernets, the depth of Chenin Blanc that the annual WINE magazine TOPS at SPAR Challenge has showcased, and a significant increase in the quality of the non-mainstream varieties.

Since the show's inception, the judging date - in early May - has been held up as the explanation for the patchy Sauvignon Blanc entry: too early for the classy wines of the year, too late except for the unsaleable samples from the previous vintage. More and more however, cellars are keeping back wines for a little bottle-ageing - and in the cooler sites Sauvignons certainly need that extra time and are showing better for it. The result was that this year there were a couple of classic wines - as well as an encouraging trend that hopefully will be carried forward in the future.

This same pattern was finally discernible amongst the Rieslings - a class which has struggled to attract submissions and where the submissions have often been less than inspiring. This year's small entry had a couple of very good wines - presaging a turnaround in a category which has been on the retreat for some time.

Blended whites - wooded and unwooded - continue to impress with the usual suspects bagging the lion's share of the medals. All have shown an increasing dependence on Semillon, so it is encouraging to witness an ongoing increase in the strength and credibility of this class. A well-established - though first-time entrant - took the Semillon trophy, its success serving to remind us all of the virtues of century-old vines.

The Chenin Blanc line-up proved slightly disappointing, though Jordan's gold medal - to follow its success in this class in the 2002 show - provided a useful reminder of the importance of established vineyards in the right area, as well as thoughtful and dedicated winemaking. The Chardonnay class showed a significant improvement on the 2005 result, with three golds compared with none the year before. The judges were really pleased with the fruit quality - especially on the younger wines - a refrain echoed several times over the three days of the primary judging.

The non-Bordeaux style red blend classes proved - as usual - something of a challenge. The Shiraz-based blends yielded a gold medal - pretty much par for the course - but Pinotage, the key element in the so-called Cape Blend, was unable to establish its credentials as a useful partner, much to everyone's disappointment. Cabernet-based blends, however, garnered more than an average share of golds and confirmed a pattern that has become clearly discernible over the years. With both younger and older wines doing well, its pre-eminence remains undisputed.

The red wine varietal classes pretty much tracked past show results. Pinot Noir struggled to collect a silver. Merlot, with its tougher-than-average tannins, proved more than an everyday challenge, though one gold emerged after a long day of sifting through some quite chunky entries - a pattern reminiscent of previous years. Cabernet Sauvignon proved equally intransigent, with only one gold compared with several in previous years. Considering the higher-than-average hit rate of the "other red varietal" classes - Touriga Naçional, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese each took home a silver - the industry should perhaps invest more effort in ensuring that the cultivar on which it has relied for so long is able to perform against all newcomers.

Shiraz on the other hand is finally coming into its own. The new plantings of the past decade have borne fruit and the clutch of serious wines which occupied the attention of the panel (who sifted them from the biggest class of entry on the show) are mainly from younger vintages, all concentrated and delicious. Together with Cabernet blends - with some younger flamboyant wines, and at least one classic older entry - they dominated the red wine categories of the show.

Finally there were the fortifieds, where the Port classes continue to deliver a host of credible results. The Vintage wines are always impressive, while this year there was also a Tawny that sufficiently caught the panel's interest to finish among the golds. In a curious way the continued success of these classes brings into sharp relief the under-performance of the bubblies where in five years of show judging only one wine has ever taken gold and even silver medallists have been thin on the ground.

This report would be incomplete without a comment on the Museum classes - a category created to reward the patience and prescience of producers who recognise the importance of bottle age on the quality of their wines. Entries remain disappointingly small and even those classes which would most profit from a marketing boost - and for which age is a crucial and distinguishing feature - were notably absent from the line-up. If producers do not have enough faith to cellar their own wines, or enough courage to expose them to critical scrutiny once they have appropriate bottle age, they can hardly castigate consumers for failing to invest in them.

BY THE NUMBERS

961 wines judged in total
(995 in 2005, 951 in 2004)

295 medals awarded
(283 in 2005, 369 in 2004)

225 bronze medal winners
(224 in 2005, 293 in 2004)

46 silver medal winners
(42 in 2005, 58 in 2004)

24 gold medal winners
(17 in 2005, 18 in 2004)

20 producers won gold
(17 in 2005, 16 in 2004)

18 trophies awarded
(17 in 2005, 16 in 2004)

15 trophy-winning wines
(14 in 2005, 12 in 2004)

12 trophy-winning producers
(14 in 2005, 10 in 2004)

5 won more than one trophy
(3 in 2005, 4 in 2004)

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2006 trophy and gold medal winners

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2006 results by category

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2006 most successful cellars 2006

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2006 leading producers

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2006 Judges