Best Shiraz area
2006-08-24
THE Nelson’s Creek Wine Estate in Windmeul (the mini-region known as Pearl’s Gates) has been crowned Top Shiraz producer for the Paarl region at the first ever Terroir SA Wine Awards.
This new wine competition is unique in that only wines made from grapes from a specific Estate or designated Wine Ward are eligible for entry. In all other wine competitions the origin of the grapes used in the production of the wine is immaterial.
Nelson’s Creek won the award with its 2002 vintage Nelson Estate Shiraz, which also received a double gold medal at the Veritas Awards.
“This is an excellent competition,” said Alan Nelson, the owner of Nelson's Creek, “as it gives due recognition to the soils and micro-climate from which the grapes originate.
“It is also a reliable guide for wine lovers that want to know which mini-areas in each region produce the best wines of particular varietals”.
Nelson’s Creek is located on the Atlantic-seaward side of the Paarl Mountain. This mini-region is fast becoming known as one of the best wine growing regions in the world, especially for its production of Shiraz and Cabernet grapes.
In 2001 and again in 2003 grapes from this mini-region were used to produce the best Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the world according to judges at Vinexpo in Bordeaux France, the biggest and most prestigious wine competition in the world.
Last year, Nooitgedaght, the farm adjacent to Nelson’s Creek, produced the grapes that were used to make wine that was judged the best Shiraz and also the best red wine of all entrants at the South African Young Wine show.
“It is all about terroir” says Nelson, “this mini-area is blessed with a perfect combination of soil and climate. The soils consist of a unique combination of Malmesbury shale and decomposed granite with a high clay content that allows for excellent water retention.
“This valley also lies between the Paarl and Paardeberg Mountains that acts as a funnel that channels cool air from the cold Atlantic sea in the late afternoons and early evenings.”
The mini-region has seen unprecedented growth in new cellars over the past ten years. Currently there are eleven wine producers in the region who have joined together in order to make the remarkable achievements of their region known to wine consumers.
The name ‘Pearl’s Gate’ was chosen by the eleven cellars in order to depict what the owners describe as their ‘heavenly wine country’.
The name might be controversial, but as Nelson’s Creek has again shown, the achievements of this mini-region as one of the best areas for the production of Shiraz wines, is certainly not.
“It seems as if this region is indeed especially blessed and perhaps worthy of its divine title!” says Nelson.
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