HOW MANY of us thought the days of a really good red at under R100 a bottle were behind us… R99pb for one of the Top 12 in the 2025 Shiraz SA Challenge! The 2024 vintage of Skaapveld Shiraz from MAN Family Wines at Lievland Vineyards in Stellenbosch, although the grapes came from Paarl… And when last was there a Top 10/12 competition where three producers won with not one but two of their wines – in fact, Panorama-based Durbanville wine route member De Grendel achieved a treble of sorts, with their ‘standard' Shiraz (grapes from Paarl and Somerset West) and two vintages of their Op die Berg Syrah (grapes from the Witzenberg slopes near Ceres).
Babylonstoren's Top 12 placing with their 2022 vintage followed a Top 10 spot for the Paarl producer at Syrah du Monde in France, De Grendel's Op die Berg 2023 earned a score of 95 in the SA Winemag Report, and these two cellars as well as Diemersdal of Durbanville, Saronsberg of Tulbagh and Tokara of Stellenbosch all have good track records in terms of panel-ratings of their Shiraz/Syrah wines across a span of vintages – as do most of the producers whose wines shone among the Top 5 Shiraz-based blends in the 2025 Challenge.
The Shiraz SA association reports that there were 173 entries. They don't say how many of these were entered as blends, but the calibre was high: of the Top 5, Babylonstoren Babel, Saronsberg Full Circle and Spier Creative Block 3 rank among South Africa's best red blends according to top panels over the past 10 years. Recently, the Babel 2023 also received a good review from Gilbert & Gaillard (95 points) and the Full Circle 2022 was a gold medallist at the country's Trophy Wine Show (96 points).
The judges: panel chair Edmund Terblanche (cellarmaster at La Motte), Elzette du Preez (former winemaker at De Grendel), Morgan Steyn (current winemaker at De Grendel), Samarie Smith-Meletiou (wine writer) and Georgio Meletiou (sommelier at Spier). The blind-tasting involved each judge being presented with wines in a different order, with no discussion permitted during the assessments.
TOP 12 SA SHIRAZ/SYRAH
Babylonstoren Shiraz 2022
R375pb ex-cellar, Simonsberg-Paarl
Blueberry Hill Shiraz 2023 (ArtiSons)
R435pb ex-Stellenrust cellar, Helderberg-Stellenbosch
De Grendel Op die Berg Syrah 2022
R350pb ex-cellar, Panorama-Durbanville
De Grendel Op die Berg Syrah 2023
R355pb ex-cellar, Panorama-Durbanville
De Grendel Shiraz 2021
R245pb ex-cellar, Panorama-Durbanville
Diemersdal Shiraz 2023
R130pb ex-cellar, Durbanville
Diemersdal Syrah 2023
R215pb ex-cellar, Durbanville
MAN Skaapveld Shiraz 2024
R99pb ex-Lievland cellar, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch
Missing Link Shiraz 2023 (ArtiSons)
R475pb ex-Stellenrust cellar, Helderberg-Stellenbosch
Saronsberg Provenance Shiraz 2023
R145pb ex-cellar, Tulbagh
Tokara Shiraz 2022
R155pb ex-cellar, Helshoogte-Stellenbosch
Von The Sir Shiraz 2023
R200pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch
TOP 5 SA SHIRAZ-LED BLENDS
Babylonstoren Babel 2023
R250pb ex-cellar, Simonsberg-Paarl
Flagstone Velvet 2023
R770pb ex-cellar, Somerset West/Strand
Guardian Peak SMG 2022
R240pb ex-cellar, Helderberg-Stellenbosch
Saronsberg Full Circle 2022
R690pb ex-cellar, Tulbagh
Spier Creative Block 3 2021
R250pb ex-cellar, Vlottenburg-Stellenbosch
TOP SA SHIRAZ ROSÉ
Eerste Hoop Rosé 2025
R140pb ex-cellar, Overberg-Theewaters
2 Responses
Of the 173 entries in the 2025 Challenge, there were 30 Blends and 8 Roses. Packs of the 12 winning wines are available from Pieter Badenhorst (For the Love of Wine) at R3 500, and Port2Port sells the bottles individually.
The Top Wine SA newsletter by Mike Froud is most informative… I have bought most of my wine based on the information supplied. Great work!