Trophies for classic wines
2006-11-30
THE Classic Wine Trophy celebrates its ninth successful year and second year with sponsor Santé Winelands Hotel and Wellness Centre.
This yearly event has now become a popular institution on the South African wine competition calendar with a unique international panel judging South African wines from a different perspective to other local competitions.
The object is to award the best wines according to a Continental palate, with the emphasis on a French taste for classical wines that show balance, elegance and a potential for ageing.
The Red Wine Trophy went to the Warwick Trilogy 2004, while the White Wine Trophy was won by Amani Chardonnay 2004.
Local wines which won gold medals were Backsberg Elba 2004, Fairview Solitude Shiraz 2004, Lindhorst Statement Shiraz/Merlot 2004, Vilafonte Series C 2003 and the Chamonix Chardonnay Reserve 2005.
An addition to this year’s competition included a Sauvignon Blanc workshop conducted by Alphonse Mellot, an eighteenth generation winemaker from Sancerre and known in France as the “King of Sauvignon Blanc”.
Sauvignon Blanc entrants were invited to join in an informal tasting and openly exchange ideas and information. The aim of this event was to encourage the building of links between the traditional Loire Valley producers and the South African interpretation of these delicate grapes.
Olivier Poels, Senior Editor, and Bernard Burtschy, Editor of the Revues des Vins de France and the annual wine buying guide, have joined in the tasting procedure of this year’s competition in order to put more focus on South African wines in their home country.
(France is still the largest wine consuming market in the world, in volume and value).
The Santé Classic Wine Trophy has thus become a marketing tool for South African wines in all French speaking countries, from Quebec to New Caledonia and from Belgium to Switzerland.
Due to the high standard of the judging only seventeen gold medals are awarded: nine for red wines, six for white wines, one for sparkling and one for sweet wine.
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