 |
||
|
17/07/2008 01:45 PM - (SA) Local wineries strike gold 17-07-2008
Locally-produced wines were among the international brands that collected gold medals at the London-based International Wine Challenge - the biggest wine show in the world - and the Decanter World Wine Awards. Some 267 wines were awarded gold medals at this year's International Wine Challenge. Three of those wines came from producers in the vicinity of the Helderberg. They were the Oak Valley Chardonnay 2006 from Oak Valley Estate in Elgin; Spier's Private Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2005; and, the Forrester Meinert Chenin (The FMC) 2006. The International Wine Challenge this year received over 9 000 entries from 40 countries. France dominated the trophy winners - the pinnacle of the competition - followed by Australia, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Some 307 from SA received awards
Oak Valley was the only South African winery to receive a Gold for its chardonnay (2006). In addition, only five other SA wines (four whites and a red) were awarded Gold across all categories at the illustrious competition. Moreover, only 14 other chardonnays worldwide received Gold medals (10 from France and 4 from Australia). There were also a number of Gold medals for local winemakers following the release of the Decanter World Wine Awards, which were announced earlier this month at the London Wine Trade Fair. Some 9 200 wines were entered. Only 64% of wines were awarded a medal, and of those just 2.84% won a gold medal or a trophy. Among those were Gold medals for the Eikendal Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2007 and Shiraz 2006, Spier Wines Private Collection Shiraz 2005 and Shiraz/Mourverdre/Viognier 2005, and Morgenster Red Blend 2004.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
