2L BOX or 750ml bottle, no doubt the 2021 Darling Cellars Reserve Pyjama Bush was what many SA pink wine lovers began clamouring for after it was named Best in Show at Rosé Rocks 2021. As the winner of the inaugural Allan Mullins Award for the top-scoring entry in the competition, it’s made from Sauvignon Blanc and Grenache and sells for just R60pb… The price of the bag-in-box version had yet to be posted at the time of writing, but the pack was to be made available at the winery on the R315 to Malmesbury before being rolled out to retail stores around South Africa.

It’s not labelled as Rosé, but it looks like one, tastes like one, is called one by everybody including the producer and, according to the panel chair Norma Ratcliffe, it was one of the world-class examples among the 139 entries. Former winemaker and proprietor of Warwick Estate in Stellenbosch, Ratcliffe was one of five jurors, who also included international judge Chiara Fabiette of Italy, SA winemakers Praisy Dlamini (Adama GM), Kelly-Marie Jacobs (Distell) and sommelier-chef Munashe Kwaramba.

According to the judges: “This Rosé is beautiful. It displays hints of guava and tropical fruits… It has daring Sauvignon Blanc-like characteristics… It shows lovely depth and balance; it’s great… Fresh, excellent… tight acidity and complexity… Vibrant, lingering fruit flavours with wonderful structure.”

And what’s with the peejays? The explanation given is that the wine is named after the wild flowers on the bush shrub Lobostemon fruticosus that bloom along the West Coast in spring and early summer – pink centres, purple veins.

For all of the 34 double gold medallists and their prices, click here. Together with Eamon McLoughlin of Spill Brand Communications, the late Allan Mullins founded this competition which focuses on Rosé. A Woolworths consultant and wine selector for some 30 years, he felt that the category was under-appreciated by many wine commentators, and his successor in charge of the Rosé Rocks panel was in agreement. “South Africa’s Rosé wines stand up to the best that the South of France produces,” said Ratcliffe.