Presenting The Abraham Perold Pinotage Trophy

The Pinotage Association’s Abraham Perold Trophy for Pinotage, was won by Spier Wines for Savanha Naledi 2009 Pinotage.

Andrew Milne, Chief Executive Officer of Spier was presented the Abraham Perold Trophy by Peter May, honorary Member of the Pinotage Association, in the presence of HRH Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the IWSC President pictured left at the IWSC awards ceremony in London’s 600 year old Guildhall on Wednesday 16 November 2011.

The International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) was founded in 1969 and is a premier competition of its kind. Its aim is to promote the quality and excellence of the world's best wines, spirits and liqueurs. This is achieved through a rigorous two stage judging process of professional blind tasting and detailed chemical and microbiological analysis.



The IWSC Judges said of Savanha Naledi 2009 Pinotage:

Opaque with bright purple rim. Highly perfumed nose with dark cherry, some truffle and lots of spice. Big, well rounded in the mouth with loads of body and fully packed with ripe fruit where as well as what the nose had plum and strawberry join the complexity. Supple tannins. Creamy flow and long, fruit filled finish.

Naledi, which is pronounced Nah-leh-di, is the Sotho word for ‘star’. The wine was made by Frans Smit.

The Pinotage Association’s Trophy is named on honour of Abraham Perold, South Africa’s first Professor of Viticulture & Oenology, who bred the Pinotage grape variety in 1925. The Pinotage Association exists to promote and maintain South Africa’s leading role in the production of quality Pinotage wines.






Gold winning South African wines on the tasting table in the Guildhall crypt


See also http://www.pinotage.org/2011/11/spier-wins-abraham-perold-trophy-for.html and http://www.pinotage.org/2011/11/spier-is-iwsc-producer-of-year.html


(photographs courtesy of IWSC. See photo's of the awards ceremony at http://www.iwsc.net/mediagallery/images/8?pg=1 )

Spier is IWSC Producer of the Year

Spier won the South African Producer of the Year Trophy it was announced on Wednesday evening 16 November
Andrew Milne, Chief Executive Officer of Spier received the Dave Hughes South African Producer of the Year Trophy from Dave Hughes in the presence of HRH Prince Robert of Luxembourg in front of 500 members of the international wine and spirits industry at the IWSC awards ceremony in London’s Guildhall.

Pictured left to right: HRH Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Dave Hughes, Andrew Milne.

Spier was picked from a shortlist comprising Kaapzicht Estate, Kanonkop Estate, Fleur du Cap, KWV and Nederburg.

In the Press - Spier Pinotage 2006

The Private Collection Pinotage 2006 (rsp: £15.99) is pleasantly delicate and elegant for the variety, with a lovely nose of raspberries and redcurrants and almost like a Kiwi Pinot Noir in the mouth. Clare Hu in Harpers (UK trade magazine)

Harpers reports that Spier are "pulling out of supermarkets in favour of a push in the on-trade and independent merchants", but they do not mention whether this affects the many own-label wines Spier produce for UK supermarkets, for instance the ASDA Pinotage 'wine of year' praised by Tim Atkin, see here.

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Spiers ASDA Pinotage 'wine of year'

Tim Atkins, writing in The Guardian (London) rates an own label Pinotage made for supermarket chain ASDA by Spier winery as one of the two best wines of the year priced under £5.

2009 Asda South African Pinotage, Spier (£3.78, 14%) Shows Pinotage's better side: gluggable raspberry fruit and a hint of liquorice.

In his round up of 2009 he awards South Africa as the Wine Producing Country of the Year.

Congrats to Spier.

Spier Private Collection 2002 -- Wow!!

Lets start the new year with a brace of 2004 Top 10 winning Pinotages. First Spier Private Collection 2002

Wow…..

2002 might have been a difficult vintage in the Cape but this wine is a triumph. Deeply flavoured, savoury with tobacco leaf and dried herbs. It develops in the glass, providing a (restrained) roller coaster of flavours. There’s cherry and blackberries on top, with some muscular tannins lurking underneath. There’s a depth and structure to this wine and as we finish the last glass its opening up offering an intriguing dark chocolate bouquet. If I’d had another bottle I’d have been tempted to pull the cork there and then. But better still to keep it a couple more years.

I so enjoyed the Spier that the following evening I opened one of my all time favourites, La Cave 2003. But I was disappointed that choirs of angels didn’t sing this time. Maybe this was an off bottle, maybe the wine is entering a dumb phase, but the fruit was subdued and acids were to the fore. Drinkable but not, this time unfortunately, a wow.

Comparing the labels, while La Cave shows the winery name, location and website & email addresses, the Spier wine gives no such information, just the name Spier.

Details
Producer: Spier
Designation: Private Collection
Winemaker: Frans Smit
Variety: Pinotage 94% Cab Sauvignon 6%
Appellation: Stellenbosch
Alcohol:14.5%

Website: www.winecorp.co.za/spier/home/

Details
Producer: Wamakersvallei Winery
Designation: La Cave
Winemaker: Chris Roux
Variety: 100% Pinotage
Appellation: Swartland
Alcohol:15%

Web: www.wamakersvallei.co.za

Golds for Spier & Nederburg

Congratulations to both Spier and Nederburg on winning Gold medals at MUNDUSvini International Wine Awards for their Spier 'Private Collection' Pinotage 2005 and Nederburg 'Classic' Pinotage 2005.


This international competition held in Germany is said to be the largest officially recognised wine competition in the world; 4495 wines were entered this year, of which 429 were awarded gold. Medals are limited no more than one third of wines entered.


Spier Cellar Master Frans Smit said “Our goal is to be known across the globe for our Private Collection wines. This is a great result for our newly-released vintage, and an affirmation of our selection of wines, from the vineyard block right through to barrel.”

Spier Wines MD Neville Carew added, “At Spier quality underpins everything we do. The fact that our wines are formally recognised at a global level upholds our mission of ‘taking our wines to the world’.”


Nederburg's marketing manager Misti Watson said “Germany is our next biggest market, where sales have continued to climb, despite the fierce competition from New World and Old World producers. When international competition results largely concur with those on domestic events, we believe it shows Nederburg’s capacity to create pleasing wines that transcend geographic boundaries.