THE wine Gods of the Southern Hemisphere have poured gold paint over the grape farms of South Africa.
Nederburg’s 2009 Eminence, a Private Bin wine made for sale exclusively on the Nederburg Auction, was judged the Wine of Show at the 2011 Five Nations Wine Challenge in Sydney.
During past years the Challenge has awarded a small haul of trophies to South Africa.
However this year eight major trophies - the lion’s share of what was awarded, including Wine of Show and White Wine of Show - were won by South African entries.
The South African individual class winners were Jordan Winery 2009 Riesling; Paul Cluver Wines Chardonnay 2009; Bellingham, The Bernard Series Roussanne 2010; Tokara Director’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2009; Eagle’s Nest Shiraz 2009 and Nederburg Wines Private
Bin Eminence Noble Late Picked Muscadel 2009.
While the Prestigious Wine of Show was won by Nederburg Wines for the famous Muscadel, the trophy for White Wine of Show was won by Paul Cluver’s Chardonnay.
Red Wine of Show was won by New Zealand’s Kidnapper Cliffs Cabernet Sauvignon and Australia won Nation of Show following a strong performance over the majority of classes.
In addition to eight trophies, South Africa won seven Double Gold and eleven Gold medals.
Nederburg’s Eminence also took the trophy for the top dessert wine on the show, the first time a dessert wine has emerged as the judges’ favourite and, according to local panellist Michael Fridjhon, scores for the wine exhibited a level of consistency never seen before in the history of the competition.
“It was out and out everyone’s favourite.”
The 2008 vintage of Eminence also won gold in Sydney. Earlier this year, it earlier earned 96 points to take the trophy for the best unfortified dessert wine at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, and was one of the top ten wines in the 2011 Muscats du Monde in France.
Nederburg’s Eminence is a natural sweet wine, made entirely from hand-picked Muscat grapes, grown on the slopes of Simondium, with harvesters going through the vineyards several times to pick only fully ripened fruit.
Nederburg cellarmaster, Razvan Macici said the outcome of the competition was yet another testimony to the exceptional 2009 vintage.
“It is an enormous honour for us. With Eminence, we are seeking to express purity of fruit but all the while retaining the appropriate balance between residual sugar and fresh acidity.”
Macici added that in making the 2009 vintage, he used a technique learned in his early years as a winemaker, allowing partial fermentation on the skins to extract the maximum flavour.
“It’s the first time I have followed this approach at Nederburg.
“What also makes us exceedingly proud is that South Africa as a country performed so well, earning more trophies than any other competing nation. It sends a very clear message internationally about South African wine-making standards.”
