The 2026 Terroir Awards were presented with lunch at Lanzerac Hotel and wine estate in Stellenbosch
A welcoming glass of Jacques Bruére Brut Reserve Cap Classique from Bon Courage in Robertson
It has a good mousse, a lovely prickle and such good dry and crisp fruit
Some very good layered canapés
The winning wines were laid out in rows on tables
and we had about an hour and a half to taste them before lunch and the awards
There were two tables with white wines
The Bergsig Gewürztraminer was shy, but true to the varietal
The Bellingham Pandemonium Grenache Blanc is very aromatic
At lunch we were at the same table as Aarbeidsgenot Winemaker Jaco Brand, his wife and their partner Jaco Oliver
and so enjoyed their Roussanne, green crisp, complex and satisfying
Both the Ghost Corner Semillon and the Cederberg Sauvignon Gris were so impressive
Lynne doing a speed tasting and chatting to winemakers about what they were finding
The Fryer's Cove was full of minerality and green notes
Flagstone Treaty Tree, a Sauvignon Semillon blend, was impressive with a superb nose and palate
The Ghost Corner Semillon has a dive-in nose, and is superb on the palate. A food wine
Lynne with Oak Valley winemaker Jacques du Plessis
Cape Wine Master Bennie Howard
Lots of discussion taking place
And there was a table for the red wines
The Oak Valley Pinot Noir from Elgin is classic, lots of cherry fruit and some violets
The Villion Cabernet Franc is classy with dark licorice and wood on the nose and a layered palate
The Wildekrans is deep purple, with a complex nose and palate
More red wines
Lourensford Merlot really stood out. Incense wood, good fruit and recognisably Merlot. Layers of delicious fruit
The Kleipot Petite Syrah has a lovely knock-back nose, and lots of ripe berry fruit. A find
The dessert wines and ports
De Krans Cape Vintage Reserve is a classic port, restrained on the nose and a wow on the palate, silky, full and darkly delicious
Neethlingshof Maria Noble Late Harvest has honey, lemon and depth on the nose, lime, lemon and sweet honey on the palate
Grand Constance from Groot Constantia is a classic, a homage to the historic Constantia wine
and still made from red and white Muscat de Frontignan; wearable perfume, honey and dark waxy honeycomb
Such fruit complexity, not high in RS but in balance. A revelation
Boplaas The 1932 Block Hanepoot. Perfume, enticement, layered honey, lemon and some magic
The Aarbeidsgenot Tannie Esther Muscat D' Alexandrie is a honey bomb with flowers on the palate., Depth, mature liquid honey on the palate, so special with dessert
Pork tenderloin on brioche with maple syrup, rhubarb and fennel salad
More of the impressive Red wines
Benny Howard CWM opened proceedings and told us that all the wines were open at the back of the room
to taste and drink with lunch
This Merlot from Lourensford had us so impressed.
A view of the room
We were sitting at the same table as Arbeitsgenot winemaker Jaco Brand and his wife Cornel
The six Trophies
Jeff Grier CWM was the chief judge and spoke about the judges and the tasting process
What shall we try with the starter? All the winning entries were available for drinking with lunch
Lanzerac Executive Chef Stephen Fraser and F&B Manager DJ Tarao
The lunch menu. Chef Stephen Fraser is excellent and we always know we are in for a treat
Lynne doesn't get mushrooms very often because of John's allergy, so this was a treat
The mushroom tortellini with the Kalahari truffles were deliciously al dente and full of flavour,
the rich cream sauce added complexity. The Villion Chardonnay was an excellent match
The mushroom tortellini with the Kalahari truffles were deliciously al dente and full of flavour,
the rich cream sauce added complexity. The Villion Chardonnay was an excellent match
Tortellini with prawns in place of the mushrooms for John
Bennie Howard announced that the national winning wines from cultivars and styles originated from 16 wineland terrains
Altogether 38 wines from all the cultivars and styles entered excelled with the highest points as National Winners
They were all the wines we tasted at the beginning
They were presented with Certificates
They are all wines certified by the Wine and Spirit Board as wines of origin from specific wards
or districts not divided
into more than one ward
Estate-produced wines and single vineyard wines may participate in the
competition
Single cultivar wines form an important part of this competition,
as well as lower volume wines
deriving from a single vineyard
Clarise Wallace, Sales service manager: Wine and Spirits at sponsor SA Litho
presented the first tranche of certificates
Award sponsor Marius Boshoff, Managing Director of Winfield presented the next third of the certificates
and Alicia Potgieter, Project manager of OntbytSake presented the last third
After the Certificates, we were served the main course of Pinotage braised boneless oxtail,
with potatoes, beef kaiings, ale, onion, parsley & black garlic
and served with a side of beautifully lightly cooked autumn vegetables and a separate demi-glace sauce
Rich, gooey and wonderfully deep in flavour
Never before have we been served this off the bone, we loved it
Chef told Lynne he had done it for us!
We both had a glass of the Lourensford Merlot, excellent and very traditional,
very much in the style of St Emilion, with layers of refined fruit and wood
A great pairing
A great selection of seasonal vegetables, beautifully prepared
The Demi-Glace sauce, served very creatively in a silver teapot for the table, was rich and unctuous
The plate John put together to eat
After the presentation of the six trophies, dessert was served
A vanilla cheesecake topped with orange gel and candied peel and accompanied by a white chocolate mousse and coconut crumble
A good ending to a great meal
We drank the Trophy winner with our table companions in celebration,
the Arbeidsgenot Tannie Esther Muscat de Alexandrie, so delicious
THE SIX TROPHY PRESENTATIONS
JM Crafford of Stettyn produced the Top Heritage Wine 2026
The category, for vineyards 35 years and older, has, in addition to the Stettyn Old Vine
Chenin Blanc 2025
also yielded a red wine winner, namely the Stellenbosch 1679 Old Vine Pinotage 2023
from Koelenhof Cellar, presented here by Rosa Kruger of the Old Vine Project
Philip Viljoen (Bon Courage Estate) The Trophy for the Top Estate, once again
Trophy for the Top area: Bot River ward – Nick Harlow (Wildekrans) Johann Fourie (Benguela Cove), Kobie Viljoen (Villion)
Cornel and Jaco Brand (Arbeidsgenot) with the Trophy for the Top Producer
and the Trophy for the Top Single Vineyard for their Muscat Alexandrie Dessert Wine Tannie Esther
In addition to their two trophies, Arbeidsgenot also won the laurels by entering four National Winners
Mika Engelbrecht (Ghost Corner) winner of the Top White Wine Trophy
We thanked the chefs and the kitchen staff for an excellent meal
Mika Engelbrecht (Ghost Corner) with the Top White Wine Trophy
The six Trophy winners:
Jaco Brand (Arbeidsgenot), JM Crafford (Stettyn), Mika Engelbrecht (Ghost Corner),
Philip Viljoen (Bon Courage Estate), Cornel Brand (Arbeidsgenot), Johann Fourie (Botrivier Ward)
With the sponsors
Bon Courage winemaker Philip Viljoen with his well-deserved award for the Top Wine Estate
All the stories we have produced since 2012
can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page
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