HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? In September 2019 the International Wine & Spirit Competition organisers in the UK announce that the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from Bartinney of Banghoek in Stellenbosch is one of the South African entries to be scored 97 points – as reported here. A month later – see here – the IWSC announces that at the show’s awards banquet in November the Worldwide Wine Trophy for Top Cabernet Sauvignon will be presented to Kanonkop, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, whose 2006 vintage was scored 96 points. A similar scenario applies to the trophy-winning Cederberg Waitrose Shiraz and the De Grendel Shiraz that we’re told scored 95 and 97 respectively. How widespread is this, we wonder.

While a second or third round of judging is likely in deciding on class winners, and while it’s possible that wines can be scored differently in the process, the final competition results should reflect the final, updated scores. Either Kanonkop and Cederberg won the trophies with scores higher than what they were first time round, or the Bartinney and De Grendel were scored lower at the end of the day. Either way, the final scores in the competition results that are made public should show a trophy winner to have scored better than all other wines in that class. Otherwise it appears that somebody was robbed…

A query as to what happened in this regard was put to the conveners and hopefully a satisfactory explanation will be forthcoming. In the meantime, as things stand, here are all of the South African recipients of Worldwide Trophies at IWSC 2019 – and no surprise on the Chenin front:

SA Trophy Winners

TOP CHENIN BLANC
Stellenrust Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2018
R210pb from Helderberg cellar, Stellenbosch

TOP BLENDED RED
Constantia Glen Five 2015
R390pb from the cellar, Constantia

TOP CABERNET SAUVIGON
Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Sold out at the cellar, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch

TOP SYRAH/SHIRAZ
Cederberg Waitrose Shiraz 2017
Exported for sale at Waitrose, UK