Veritas Champion, Winner of the 2022 Duimpie Bayly Vertex Award

IT’S A PITY that the Veritas Awards don’t do more to showcase the very best wines of South Africa. Apart from the glorious exception of the Vertex Award presented for the overall champion (the highest-scoring wine in the competition), the furthest the organisers go in presenting a guide to the greatest wines from the Cape winelands is awarding ‘double gold’ medals that could mean no more than high silvers at other competitions. 93 out of 100 is where Veritas sets the bar for double gold, which is below the 95-point threshold for gold at the local Trophy Wine Show as well as at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, the International Wine Challenge and the Decanter World Wine Awards. To win gold at Veritas, as opposed to double gold, requires just 90/100, which is equivalent to a low silver at most top shows. Not that Veritas tells us the scores…

The exact scores out of 100 achieved at the Veritas Awards are made available to the entrants but are only released to the public at the discretion of the entrants, who can choose whether or not to include these points on the bottle stickers that may be purchased should they wish to promote their medal achievements on-shelf. This is the root of the problem, as it were: instead of being fully transparent regarding their competition results, Veritas is relaxed about wine producers who wish to present their 93-pointers such that, on the face of it, they could be confused with 95- or 96-pointers – 98- to 100-pointers even. Sadly, from the consumers’ perspective, the very best, the most outstanding of the finest wines assessed by the expert panels at Veritas are grouped together with what the judges found to be good but less than outstanding – the convenors taking pride in the increasing number of double gold medals awarded each year.

At the 2022 edition of the Veritas Awards, the flagship of the SA National Wine Show Association dating back to 1991, the entries included 1291 wines and 21 brandies. After five days of blind-tasting by a jury of 70 local specialists on the various panels, the judges awarded a record number of 103 double gold medals (95 if you exclude the brandies), 136 gold medals as well as 218 ‘silver outstanding’, 515 silver and 205 bronze medals… Presumably the the contents of the 100 or so bottles that didn’t qualify for a medal just for being entered must have been pretty awful.

What to take out of the results as presented to us? Surely the Reserve Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 from Tokara on the slopes of the Simonsberg off the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch is a good call for a special occasion. At the time of writing, the Duimpie Bayly Veritas Vertex Award winner had not yet sold out: R370pb ex-cellar. Much was expected of this wine, given the good track record and accolades for the 2018 vintage which included a score of 96 at both the Decanter World Wine Awards (UK) and in Platter’s SA Wine Guide, as well as Double Gold at the Global Fine Wine Challenge (AU).

And bargain-hunters might wish to consider those Veritas double gold laureates priced at under R150pb – see below:

Good Value White Wines

CHARDONNAY

• Danie de Wet Matured on the Lees Chardonnay 2022 (Unwooded)
R97pb ex-cellar, De Wetshof, Robertson
• Seven Oaks Chardonnay 2022
R75pb from the cellar, Wolseley
• Spier Seaward Chardonnay 2021
R125pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch

CHENIN BLANC

• Cilmor Chenin Blanc 2021
R59pb ex-cellar, Worcester
• Duke Chenin Blanc 2022
R68pb ex-cellar, Wellington Wines
• Gustus Chenin Blanc 2020
R100pb ex-Darling Cellars
• Van Loveren Chenin Blanc No. 5 2022
R85pb ex-cellar, Robertson
• Windmeul Chenin Blanc 2022
R65pb ex-cellar, Paarl

GEWÜRZTRAMINER

• Neethlingshof Gewürztraminer 2022
R93pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch

GRENACHE BLANC

• Perdeberg Vineyard Collection Grenache Blanc 2021
R95pb ex-cellar, Paarl

SAUVIGNON BLANC

• Brink Sauvignon Blanc 2022
R70pb ex-cellar, Pulpit Rock, Riebeek West
• Cilmor Winemaker’s Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2021
R85pb ex-cellar, Worcester
• Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2022
R120pb ex-cellar, Durbanville
• Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve Cape Mist Sauvignon Blanc 2021
R130pb ex-cellar, Durbanville
• Goedverwacht Great Expectations Sauvignon Blanc 2022
R90pb ex-cellar, Bonnievale
• Kalahari Vleishuis Sauvignon Blanc 2022
R79pb approximate retail (Keimoes cellar)
• Lutzville Sauvignon Blanc 2022
R80pb ex-cellar, Lutzville

VIOGNIER

• Flagstone Word of Mouth Viognier 2020
R130pb ex-cellar, Somerset West

WHITE BLENDS

• Cilmor Winemaker’s Selection Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2021
R85pb ex-cellar, Worcester
• Flagstone Treaty Tree Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2019
R130pb ex-cellar, Somerset West

Good Value Pink Wine

ROSÉ

• Merwida Papenkuils Vlei Vygie Pinotage Rosé 2022
R62pb ex-cellar, Rawsonville

Good Value Red Wines

MALBEC

• Blaauwklippen Malbec 2020
R145pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch

MERLOT

• Badsberg Merlot 2020
R68pb ex-cellar, Rawsonville
• Die Laan Merlot 2020
R95pb ex-cellar, Welgevallen, Stellenbosch
• Die Laan Merlot Reserve 2020
R120pb ex-cellar, Welgevallen, Stellenbosch

PINOTAGE

• Rooiberg Reserve Pinotage 2020
R140pb ex-cellar, Robertson

SHIRAZ

• Simonsig Mr Borio’s Shiraz 2019
R130pb ex-cellar, Koelenhof-Stellenbosch
• Sunkloof Reserve Shiraz 2019
R99pb ex-cellar, Stellenview, Devon Valley-Stellenbosch

RED BLENDS

• Cape West Thé Blend 2020
R85pb ex-cellar, Namaqua, Vredendal

Good Value Sweet Wines

DESSERT WINE – UNFORTIFIED

• Villa Esposto Muscat d’Alexandrie Straw Wine 2022
R130pb (375ml) ex-cellar, Klawer

FORTIFIED WINE

• Badsberg Red Jerepigo 2021
R80pb ex-cellar, Rawsonville
• Bon Courage White Muscadel 2022
R112pb ex-cellar, Robertson
• KWV Cape Tawny NV (Port)
R99pb ex-cellar, Paarl

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