Wine News

South African wine did well at the 2008 International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Clifford Roberts indicates that although the trophy winners for the 2008 International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) will be announced at the awards banquet on November 17 in London, medals have been awarded.

Of wines from the Helderberg and bordering regions, winners of best-in-class gold medals were: Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Spier Private Collection Cabernet Sauvignon from Spier Wines in the cabernet sauvignon category; the 2005 Hartenberg Merlot from Stellenbosch’s Hartenberg in the merlot category; the 2005 Uva Mira Cellar Selection merlot cabernet sauvignon in the merlot blends category; and the 2006 Dombeya Boulder Road Shiraz by Haskell Vineyards in the shiraz category.

 ‘Acknowledged by global peers’
Gold-medal winners from the same region were 2003 Vergelegen Red in the blended red wine category where cabernet sauvignon dominated; and the 2007 Stellenbosch Hills in the chardonnay category. Commenting on Vergelegen’s award, estate marketing manager Eddie Turner said the accolade was another great achievement for winemaker Andre van Rensburg. “A great deal of expertise and passion has gone into every element of the winemaking process. We are dedicated to producing some of the best wines in the world and it is pleasing to be acknowledged by our global peers in the industry.”

Overall, Australia once again took pole position in the IWSC with the highest number of Golds for wines across the competition (34), also at 3.3% they scored the highest percentage of golds against their number of wines entered.

The stringent judging meant only 107 gold or gold ‘best-in-class’ medals were awarded across all wine entries worldwide.

SA and France came in joint second with 19 gold medals each, representing 3.2% and 2% of their entries respectively. New Zealand was the next highest scorer with 11 golds. Spirit awards were announced earlier in the year, along with the results of Northern Hemisphere wine entries. Promote quality and excellence.

The aim of the IWSC is to promote the quality and excellence of the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs. The International Wine and Spirit Competition was founded in 1969. In 2005 The Competition received approximately 5 000 entries from over 50 countries.

 Source: District Mail