Diemersdal, the sixth-generation family wine estate in Durbanville, South Africa, won one of four Gold medals handed to Cape wineries at this year’s Concours Mondial du Sauvignon Blanc held in Portugal. The Journal Sauvignon Blanc 2021, a barrel-aged rendition of this variety for which Diemersdal has become world-renowned, was awarded Gold as well as being awarded the Revelation Trophy for Best South African Wine on show.
Concours Mondial du Sauvignon Blanc is the most important international competition for Sauvignon Blanc wine and this year attracted 1 120 entries from 23 countries.
Since its first release from the 2019 vintage, The Journal Sauvignon Blanc has garnered acclaim on various fronts, one of the most recent being a 95pt rating in Decanter magazine’s review of South African Sauvignon Blancs. An ode to Diemersdal owner-winemaker Thys Louw’s respect for and love of Sancerre, the variety’s ancestral French home, The Journal Sauvignon is made from a single vineyard planted with vines between 29 and 39 years old. The wine was fermented in barrel, after which it spent 11 months in new and second fill oak, the barrels specially made in France and Austria for Sauvignon Blanc aging.
As Diemersdal owner-winemaker Thys Louw would have it, this wine is a nod to the grape variety’s classic pedigree. “It gives me a great kick knowing we are working with a variety the wine consumer loves and which is one of the most successful commercial varieties in the world,” he says. “The audience is there – now it is up to us winemakers to perform by – along with commercial success – showing there is greatness in Sauvignon Blanc.”
The Journal Sauvignon Blanc was conceptualised in 2019 during a whirl-wind visit to Marlborough in New Zealand where Thys was selected to represent South Africa at the International Celebration of Sauvignon Blanc.