THE Allée Bleue Wine Estate near Franschhoek shone at the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards in London, when the estate’s Chenin blanc 2010 won the coveted Regional Trophy for a South African single varietal under £10.
Award-winning winemaker Van Zyl du Toit expressed his pride and delight at this achievement and added that this was just the beginning for Allée Bleue.
“I’ve always believed that Chenin blanc was conducive to creating great wines, and our emphasis on and commitment to this white variety has just been rewarded. This is just the beginning. Watch this space!”
This wooded dry white wine consists of 92% Chenin blanc and 8% Viognier.
The award-winning winemaker joined Allée Bleue a mere two years ago with a wealth of experience and expertise from more than a decade as part of the winemaking team at Simonsig near Stellenbosch.
He is not only committed to creating heavyweight and proudly South African Chenin blanc, but is determined to take all the estate’s wines to a higher level.
) The Laborie Alambic Brandy, a double-distilled potstill brandy, has just won a gold medal at the annual Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of the world’s most prestigious wine and spirit competitions.
This is an affirmation of its accolade of “Best Brandy in the World,” which was awarded at the International Wine and Spirits Competition 2010, in addition to the Veritas Gold Medal in 2010.
The IWSC is generally regarded as an international benchmark test of technical excellence and stylistic quality of the world’s finest wines and spirits.
Says Kobus Gelderblom, Brandy Master, “Following the success of the 2010 International Wine and Spirits Competition at which this brandy was named “Best Brandy in the World”, our challenge is to maintain and improve on the quality of our world-class brandy and to secure its position in the top rankings.
“I am extremely happy with the result, as expectations are high to maintain our standing within the competitions and market.”
) The Rhebokskloof Wine Estate’s flagship wine, the Black Marble Hill Reserve Syrah, has for the third consecutive year walked away with a prestigious international Syrah Du Monde award.
The Black Marble Hill Reserve Syrah 2008 secured a Silver Syrah Du Monde award at the awards presentation at the Ampuis Castle in France on 13 May.
The Syrah Du Monde of this year brought together 383 entrants from 24 countries; the competition is one of the world’s top events for Syrah/Shiraz wines and demonstrates the impressive growth of this varietal since the 1970’s.
Judges looked for wines that displayed good Syrah varietal character with well-balanced oak and alcohol levels as well as intense aroma.
“We are extremely proud of our flagship Black Marble Hill Reserve Syrah 2008 having secured an award for the third consecutive year at the Syrah Du Monde, we hope to make it four consecutive years next year,” says Anton du Toit, Managing Director.
