KWV again triumphed as best wine producer at Veritas this year with no less than four double gold and 13 gold medals followed by Nederburg with four double gold and nine gold medals, Boplaas Family Vineyards with four double gold and six gold medals and De Grendel with three double gold medals at last night’s (5 October) 2013 Veritas Awards ceremony. In the category for brandy Van Ryn’s took the lead with three double gold medals, followed by Boplaas, Oude Meester, Klipdrift Gold and Flight of the Fish Eagle with one double gold award each.

The organisers added a ‘Best Performer by Entry’ category for wines this year, with a category for less than 10 entries and another for more than 10 entries. All the medals received by entrants were considered and points given on a weighted scale. In the category with less than 10 wines entered Flagstone took the honours as Best Performer and in the category with more than 10 wine entered, Nederburg was the Best Performer.

A total of 10 wineries clinched two double gold medals each: Delaire Graff, Eagles’ Nest, Flagstone, Graham Beck, Kanonkop, Rustenburg, Simonsig, Spier, Tokara, Windmeul.

Wine lovers and wine makers annually eagerly await the results of South Africa’s most respected competition for market ready wines and brandies. Veritas annually honours the country’s best of the best with double gold, gold, silver and bronze medals – accolades which will soon appear on the winning bottles as the well-known and highly valued Veritas symbol of excellence.

This year 1 792 wines and brandies yearned for the prestigious double gold Veritas medal. Following five days of strict judging, 1 442 medals were awarded: 68 (3.7%) were honoured with double gold, while 166 (9.2%) won gold, 526 (29.3%) silver and 682 (38%) bronze.

Veritas also each year celebrates the contribution of wine legends who have dedicated their efforts and energy to the promotion of the wine industry. This year Jan Booysen, Henk Bruwer, Riaan Kruger, Wouter Pienaar and Matthee van Schalkwyk received the special Veritas scroll of honour.

These are 2013’s winning wines

KWV’s double gold medal harvest was awarded for their The Mentors Orchestra Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Petit Verdot/Malbec 2010, The Mentors Pinotage 2011 and the Laborie Blanc de Blancs MCC 2009, as well as Classic Collection Cape Tawny N/V. KWV continued to secure 13 gold medals.

Four double gold medals went to Nederburg’s Private Bin Eminence 2011, the Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, the Winemaker’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2011 and the Winemaker’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2012. Nine gold medals augmented their victorious run.

The following superb wines from Boplaas Family Vineyards won double gold: Cape Tawny Vintner’s Reserve N/V, Cape Vintage Reserve Port 2010, Cape Vintage Reserve Port 2009 and Cool Bay Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2013. In addition, six gold medals were earned for outstanding entries.

De Grendel scooped gold for their De Grendel Merlot 2010, De Grendel Shiraz 2011 and De Grendel Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc 2013.

2013’s best brandies

Van Ryn’s triumphed with three double gold medals for their Collectors Reserve 20 year old brandy, the Fine Cask Reserve 15 year old brandy and the Distillers Reserve 12 year old brandy. Other top performing brandies included a Boplaas 15 year Reserve Brandy, Oude Meester Reserve 12 years Pot Still Brandy, a Klipdrift Gold Brandy and the Flight of the Fish Eagle Natural Brandy.

Cultivar results

Sauvignon Blanc, Red Blends and Cabernet Sauvignon lead the double gold medal stakes with 8 awards each, followed by Chardonnay (6), Pinotage (5), Shiraz (5), Port (5), Chenin Blanc (4), Merlot (3), Noble Late Harvest (2), White blends (1), Colombar (1), Natural Sweet (1), Straw wine (1), MCC (1), Red Muscadel (1) and White Muscadel (1).

Merlot topped the list of gold medal winners with 16 awards, followed by Sauvignon Blanc (14), Red Blends (14), Chardonnay (13), Cabernet Sauvignon (12), Shiraz (12), Chenin Blanc (7), Noble Late Harvest (6), White Blends (5), MCC (5), Pinotage (5), Port (5), Natural Sweet (4), White Muscadel (4), Colombar (3), Red Muscadel (3), Sémillon (2), Cabernet Franc (2), Other Red Cultivars (2), Dessert Wine (2), Sherry (2), Other White Cultivars (1), Special Late Harvest (1), Straw wine (1), Viognier (1) and Malbec (1). In the Museum Class, gold medals were awarded to Dessert Wine (4), White Wine (4), Noble Late Harvest (2), Port (1) and Red wine (1).

Pot Still Brandy led in the quest for double gold medals in the brandy category with seven medals and won an additional seven gold medals. Four standard brandy entries won gold medals.

International judges lend weight to judging process

Each year international experts are invited to join the highly qualified local judging teams to take on the mammoth task of tasting and evaluating close to 1 800 wines and brandies. Signing on international wine personalities enhances the international interest in the competition and simultaneously entrants gain valuable feedback from the parts of the world to where their wines are being exported.

This year the international delegation consisted of Mimi Avery, the brand ambassador of Averys of Bristol (UK), Frank Smulders MW, consultant and educator from the Netherlands, German wine consultant Thomas Lüber, Johan Larsson, chief wine buyer for the Swedish wine retail monopoly, Systembolaget, and Denis Lahouratate, cellar master at the French House of Bisquit Cognac. Dave Hughes, local wine guru and respected international judge, joined them.

Full results are available online at www.veritas.co.za. The website also contains a search facility which was specially developed to indicate Veritas medal winners since the inception of the competition in 1991.

Source: Lifestyle – iafrica.com