Shiraz Challenge winners hail from 12 different corners of the Cape
DUE TO lockdown restrictions imposed on local drinks industry players in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, announcing the 2020 Shiraz SA Challenge results was a sombre occasion conducted online without the winners in attendance. A virtually dry celebration!
The judging, held over four days at Nederburg in Paarl, was chaired by Cape Wine Master Andy Roediger, with the panellists also including winemakers Edmund Terblanche of La Motte, Anthony de Jager of Fairview and Charles Hopkins of De Grendel, as well as Janno Briers-Louw CWM of Eenzaamheid.
As an industry body founded in 2008, Shiraz SA has over 230 members comprising producers and aficianados. The most successful Challenge entrants most often in recent years have been Babylonstoren, Boschkloof, Cederberg, Driehoek, Eagles’ Nest, Fairview, Flagstone and Saronsberg. And of the 2020 competition winners, standouts include De Grendel and Saronsberg, whose consistently good reviews internationally position these producers among the benchmarks at the top of the SA Shiraz Classification.
CHALLENGE WINNERS
TOP SHIRAZ
Babylonstoren Shiraz 2018
R265pb ex-cellar, Simonsberg-Paarl
Benguela Cove Syrah 2018
R220pb ex-cellar, Bot River
De Grendel Elim Shiraz 2018
R765pb (1.5L) ex-cellar, Panorama, Durbanville WR
Flagstone Dark Horse Shiraz 2016
R280pb ex-cellar, Somerset West
Koelfontein Shiraz 2017
R170pb ex-cellar, Prince Alfred’s Hamlet, Ceres
Kunjani Shiraz 2015
R220pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch
Leeuwenkuil Heritage Syrah 2017
R350pb approx retail (Swartland farm closed to public)
Lomond Syrah 2018
R125pb ex-cellar, Gansbaai, Cape Agulhas
Old Road Pepper Wind Syrah 2017
R360pb ex-cellar, Franschhoek
Saronsberg Shiraz 2018
R260pb ex-cellar, Tulbagh
Trizanne Reserve Syrah 2018
R210pb ex-producer, Kommetjie/Noordhoek
Wildeberg Red 2019
R320pb ex-cellar, Franschhoek
TOP SHIRAZ BLENDS
Babylonstoren Babel 2018
R165pb ex-cellar, Simonsberg-Paarl
Saronsberg Full Circle 2018
R500pb ex-cellar, Tulbagh
Strandveld Navigator 2017
R210pb ex-cellar, Elim, Cape Agulhas
TOP SHIRAZ ROSÉ
Stellenbosch Hills Polkadraai Rosé 2020
R50pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch
“Please note that there is a correction to the vintage of the Old Wine Road Co Pepper Wind Syrah. It should read 2017 and not 2018.”
This correction, referring to the winning Syrah of the ‘Old Road Wine Co’, has since been made wherever the Shiraz SA competition result is reflected on Top Wine SA.