A wooded Shiraz from Diemersdal won the General Smuts Trophy as the overall SA Champion Young Wine of 2022.
A wooded Shiraz from Diemersdal Wine Estate in Durbanville has won the prestigious General Smuts Trophy as the overall SA Champion Young Wine of 2022, after also receiving the trophy for the best South African Shiraz (wooded) at the SA Young Wine Show.
The General Smuts Trophy was last awarded to a Shiraz 18 years ago, in 2004. It is the second time that Diemersdal Wine Estate has won the General Smuts Trophy since their success in 2013 when they won the trophy with a Sauvignon Blanc.
This annual show for wines of the current vintage is presented by the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) in collaboration with Agri-Expo. It is the fourth time in the existence of this 190 year-old competition – the oldest of its kind in the world – that a Shiraz clinches this award, this year as the 71st recipient of the General Smuts Trophy. Spier won this trophy in 2004 with Shiraz, Bon Courage in 2003 and Middelvlei Estate in 1997.
The competition’s 18 SA Champion trophies in total – including the Pietman Hugo Trophy for the highest total points achieved with five entries – was today (26 August) announced at a glamorous dinner presented by Agri-Expo in the Johann Graue Hall at Nederburg in Paarl. This was the first gala event for the trophy presentation since 2019, as a result of the suspension of functions through Covid-19 realities. Altogether 42 wines achieved Class Winner status and 86 won Gold medals.
The Pietman Hugo Trophy was won by Badsberg Cellar in the Breedekloof near Worcester – an exceptional achievement for this winery which this year took the trophy for the eighth time.
The total entries were also more than last year, showing that there is again an increase in participation in the oldest wine show in South Africa after the Covid-19 restrictions. The judges were particularly impressed by the quality of the 2022 wines, thanks once again to a much later and cooler vintage year.
This year’s 1 218 entries were evaluated by 50 specialist judges on 14 panels. The judging took place at the end of July in the Johann Graue Hall at Nederburg in Paarl, over a period of five days after which the champions in 16 classes were named in addition to the two trophies for the best wine and best producer.
A special bottle sticker was introduced in 2013 to feature on the bottles of the winner of the General Smuts Trophy and thereby to show-off the overall best young wine of the year in the market-place. This has led to more and more trophy winners being bottled as such instead of ‘losing their identity’ through further blending.