South African wines excelled at one of the most celebrated competitions for Sauvignon Blanc in the world. Tokara’s Reserve Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2020 made history when it was awarded the Dubourdieu trophy for the best competing Sauvignon Blanc at the 12th Concours Mondial du Sauvignon. It is the first time ever in the history of this competition a South African wine has claimed this title. South Africa also won 11 gold and nine silver medals at this coveted competition.
“South Africa is now truly becoming a major player in Sauvignon Blanc in the world,” says RJ Botha, Chairman of Sauvignon Blanc SA. “Congratulations to Tokara on this exceptional achievement and all the other participants who excelled and flew the South African flag high on this international stage.
“It is years of hard work that are now beginning to bear fruit. We are delighted with the diversity of our wine industry that is reflected in the results.”
Stuart Botha, winemaker at Tokara, says they chose to release the 2020 vintage later in the year to enable more time on the lees. And the decision has paid off handsomely. “The wine has a fantastic textural element on the palate,” he says. “This is the X factor that I’ve been searching for. Flavours and aromas from the Tokara Highlands property have always been super expressive, so it is great to have captured all these elements in this special vintage. We always believed that the Tokara Highlands site has immense potential and it is lovely to see that realised at such a prestigious competition.”
Over 1 200 wines were tasted by an acclaimed panel of judges over four days with only one aim in mind, to select wines of irreproachable quality. Because of the pandemic, strict safety measures were applied throughout the event, from the table lay-out to serving the wines and disinfecting of the equipment. All of the wines entered for the competition were tasted and scored using the tasting form developed by Concours Mondial’s technical directors based on the model devised by the OIV and the International Oenologists’ Association.
Gold medals were awarded to the Alvi’s Drift Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Delaire Graff Coastal Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Diemersdal The Journal Sauvignon blanc 2019, Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Ghost Corner Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Ghost Corner Wild Ferment 2019, Groote Post Vineyards Seasalter 2020, Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2019, Painted Wolf Lightning Sauvignon Blanc 2020, and Elgin Vintners Ridgelands Sandstone 2020.
Silver medals were awarded to the Bellingham Homestead Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Boschendal 1685 Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Constantia Uitsig Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Delaire Graff Coastal Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2020, Diemersdal Winter Ferment Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Free Run Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2020 from Accolade Wines, Maastricht Sauvignon Blanc 2020, and Villion Trust’s Sarel Seemonster 2020.
