Podlashuk Shiraz trophy goes to Pinot specialist Creation

Podlashuk Shiraz trophy goes to Pinot specialist Creation …

08/2023 Mike Froud Leave a comment

THE RESULTS of the 2023 Shiraz SA Challenge provided plenty of talking points. For example: Flagstone of the Strand/Somerset West grabbed two awards, one for a ‘Dark Horse’ with one of the best track records in the category and the other for a ‘Velvet’ blend that costs what you might think with a name like that. The achievement by De Grendel of Panorama with an ‘Op die Berg’ Shiraz made from grapes grown in Ceres followed a string of accolades at shows including the International Wine Challenge in the UK and locally at the Terroir Wine Awards, in Winemag, at the Veritas Awards and in Platter’s SA Wine Guide. A pity, though perhaps understandable, that it was already sold out ex-cellar.

Then there’s the trophy, named after the “Father of South African Shiraz”, for which the criteria in 2023 included “excellence, innovation, creativity, sustainability and social responsibility”. The winner, recipient of a cash prize and according to Shiraz SA “Africa’s Top Wine Estate”: Creation Wines on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge outside Hermanus – Pinot Noir and Chardonnay specialists who also make various other good wines, but who’ve yet to win a Top 12 award for their Shiraz at the SA Challenge.

It also can’t go without saying that Saronsberg of Tulbagh, inaugural winner of the trophy in 2022 in recognition of their performance over the first decade of the competition, didn’t progress beyond the Top 20 in 2023, although their former cellarmaster Dewaldt Heyns continued his winning ways with his own ‘Weathered Hands’ Shiraz securing a spot in the Top 12.

And not forgetting the humble ‘Rosa’ from Villion Wines of Bot River, judged best Shiraz Rosé for the second time, at just R85 a bottle!

There were over 200 entries in the 2023 Shiraz SA Challenge. On the panel of judges: De Grendel cellarmaster Charles Hopkins (chair), Cape Wine Masters Andy Roediger and Bennie Howard, Heidi Kritzinger from Kanonkop Wine Estate and Delheim winemaker Nongcebo Langa.