Pinotage Top 10 2011 - Results

• Beyerskloof Reserve 2008
  • Stellenbosch - Anri and Beyers Truter
• Diemersdal Reserve 2010
  • Durbanville -Thys Louw with Marí van der Merwe
• Fairview Primo 2009
  • Coastal Region -Anthony de Jager
• Kanonkop Estate 2006
  • Simonsberg / Stellenbosch - Abrie Beeslaar
• KWV The Mentor’s 2009
  • Stellenbosch - Johan Fourie
• Laibach 2010
  • Stellenbosch - Francois van Zyl
• Rijk’s Private Cellar 2007
  • Tulbagh - Pierre Wahl
• Schalk Burger & Sons Meerkat 2009
  • Wellington - Jacques Wentzel
• Spier Naledi 2009
  • Stellenbosch - Johan Jordaan
• Windmeul Cellar Reserve 2010
  • Paarl - Francois van Niekerk

Congratulations to the winners of this years Pinotage Top 10 Competition, listed in alphabetical order. The 20 finalists were posted here.


It is the 9th time in the Top 10 for Kanonkop and the 6th time for both Beyerskloof and Rijks and by my reckoning, with 5 wins while at Kanonkop and 6 wins at Beyerskloof it means it is winemaker Beyers Truter' 10th time in the Top 10, the most wins by any winemaker!!


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Pinotage Top 10 Shortlist

1. Altydgedacht 2010
2. Lyngrove Platinum 2009
3. Beyerskloof Reserve 2008
4. Diemersdal Reserve 2010
5. Fairview Primo 2009
6. Kanonkop 2006
7. Kanonkop 2009
8. KWV The Mentor’s 2009
9. KWV Cathedral Cellar 2009
10. Laibach 2010
11. L’Avenir 2009
12. Rijk’s 2007
13. Schalk Burger & Sons Meerkat 2009
14. Simonsig Redhill 2008
15. Spier Naledi 2009
16. Spier 21 Gables 2009
17. Spier Private Collection 2008
18. Wellington La Cave 2009
19. Windmeul Reserve 2010
20. Windmeul Reserve 2009

The final 10 will be selected from these 20, the names are in alphabetical order. The list was released a month early apparently because it had been widely leaked.

Interesting to see the inexpensive 'lifestyle' Meerkat in the final, and three from Spier, plus a number of familiar names.


source: wine.co.za

2009 Vintage is the Best

Judging for the 2011 Top 10 Competition has been taking place this week. Neil Pendock is judging again and he blogs "In several years judging the ABSA competition, these 2009 wines are the best I’ve ever tasted."

He was less impressed with the previous days wines from 2006, 7, 8, 10 and 11 vintages.

The judges are photographed in what looks like an attic and there is no sign of the sophisticated desktop scoring computers introduced some years ago when I last judged.

I don't have much 2009 myself except for a case of the Fairview 2009 that was a Top 10 winner last year which I ordered from the winery.

2009 Pinotage Top 10 Winners

Winning Wines Announced Today

• Altydgedacht 2008 (Durbanville)
  
• Beyerskloof Diesel 2007 (Stellenbosch)
  
• Cathedral Cellar 2006 (Coastal)
  
• Darling Cellars Onyx 2006 (Darling)
  
• Flagstone Writer’s Block 2007 (Worcester vineyards)
  
• Kanonkop Estate 2005 (Stellenbosch)
  
• Longridge 2007 (Stellenbosch)
  
• Lyngrove Platinum 2007 (Stellenbosch)
  
• Viljoensdrift River Grandeur 2008 (Robertson)
  
• Windmeul Reserve 2008 (Paarl)

Results of the 2009 Absa Pinotage Top 10 Competition were announced today 27 August at a ceremony following lunch at Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate near Paarl.

Half the wineries represented are first time winners: Altydgedacht, Darling Cellars, Flagstone, Lyngrove, and Viljoensdrift.

Kanonkop wins for their eighth time and Beyerskloof for their fifth with the second vintage of Diesel which has also been awarded 5 Stars in the 2010 Platter Guide.

This year there were 139 wines competing, the 2nd highest number of entries, and these included three wines from New Zealand, the second year running the competition has attracted international interest.

This year’s judges were Duimpie Bayly (convener), Francois Naudé, Allan Cheesman, Neil Pendock, Wendy Burridge, Chris Roux and Gert Boerssen who over two days drew up a short list of 28 wines from which were selected the winners and 10 runners-up.

Duimpie Bayly said that the wines showed elegance and beautiful fruit, while sensible wood treatment created a fine balance of flavours. “There were very few bad wines and the 2007 vintage stood out with wines of supreme quality.”

Co-judge Neil Pendock said it was a hard task to select the top 10 from the final 28 wines. Allan Cheesman, former Director of Wine for UK Sainsbury’s supermarkets said that he'd been tasting wine for 37 years and this was a great experience with all the superb wines.

Runners up were: Bellingham Bernard Series Bush Vine 2007,
Cathedral Cellar 2007, DeWaal Top of the Hill 2007, Diemersfontein Carpe Diem 2007, Fort Simon 2006, Kanonkop Estate 2006, Simonsig Redhill 2007, Spier Lesebo 2007, Stellenzicht Cellarmaster's Release 2007 and Wildekrans Barrel Selection 2007

The winners of the 2009 Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition share with their award. Front from left are Anri Truter (Beyerskloof), Francois van Niekerk (Windmeul), James Slabbert (Managing Executive of Absa Corporate and Business Bank), Fred Viljoen (Viljoensdrift) and Danielle le Roux (Lyngrove). Behind from left are Abé Beukes (Darling Cellars/Onyx), Clinton Le Sueur (Longridge), Abrie Beeslaar (Kanonkop), Etienne Louw (Altydgedacht), Gerhard Swart (Flagstone) and Thys Loubser (KWV/Cathedral Cellar).

Photographer: Hannes Oosthuizen

Pinotage Judges Struggle

Judges at the 2009 ABSA Top 10 Pinotage Competition found it particularly difficult to select just 10 winning wines from the 139 entries.

Allan Cheesman, former Director of Wine for Sainsbury's supermarkets in the UK and now a consultant to several wine businesses, said "I have been tasting wine for 37 years and this was a great experience, with all the superb wines, breathtaking Cape winelands and the sincerity of the Pinotage people. More than ten years ago Pinotage was like shepherd's pie, every granny made it differently. Today the Pinotage red wine from South Africa is a benchmark in the global world of wine as a top quality international variety. Pinotage and Chenin blanc are South Africa's icon red and white wines, you own them. It was almost impossible to select the top ten wines and I also would have had a tough time ranking the top thirty."

South African wine writer Neil Pendock said "it was a very hard task to select the top ten. More than 100 of the 139 wines which we tasted are of top quality, hardly any of those wines were disappointing. At least thirty wines deserve to be winners. The 2007 vintage produced most of the great wines."

Duimpie Bayly, Cape Wine Master and convener of the panel agreed. "The wines showed elegance and beautiful fruit, while sensible wood treatment created a fine balance of flavours. There were very few bad wines and the 2007 vintage stood out with wines of supreme quality. The competition was very strong and even choosing the top thirty wines would not have been easy."In the first two days all the entries were tasted and on the last day the final 28 wines, followed by the final 20 wines and out of those the 2009 Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition winners were chosen. Each of the twenty finalist wines will be tested for micro-biological activity by an accredited laboratory to ensure it has a long shelve life with natural Pinotage characteristics.

The results will be announced on 27 August at the Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate near Paarl.

The judges of the 2009 Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition, pictured above are, from left: Duimpie Bayly, Francois Naudé, Allan Cheesman, Neil Pendock, Wendy Burridge, Chris Roux and Gert Boerssen.