The Awards Ceremony was held at Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville
This year’s competition drew 120 entries from 68 producers nationwide,
reflecting the enduring pride and innovation that continues to shape South Africa’s signature grape
20 exceptional Pinotages have reached these awards and 10 winners were picked from those wines
Red carpet on an arched pathway to the tasting venue
and a welcoming glass of Meerendal Pinot Noir Cap Classique Rosé
We were then given a tasting glass and could taste the Top 20 wines in the marquee
Lynne tasted them all while John was busy photographing
It was interesting to see how many of the wines are featuring the Pinot clone side of Pinotage, some were exceptional
JD Pretorius and his wife with a Warwick The Black Lady Pinotage
Soft nose with good fruit and elegance
Followed on the palate with plum, cassis, and dark cherry flavours, very approachable
A taste of the Duke from Daniel Slabber of Wellington winery for Etienne Louw
Berry fruit on the nose, the wine had good depth with sweet and sour berry fruit and is very easy to drink
Berry fruit on the nose, the wine had good depth with sweet and sour berry fruit and is very easy to drink
Johnny Calitz, Glen Carlou winemaker
The wine had incense oak, elegance and good fruit, a gentle amalgam
Rounded berry fruit filling the palate, so special, savoury notes and sappig (juicy) High score
Izele van Blerk with Meerendal owner Herman Coertze. She was showing her two KWV Pinotages
The Cathedral Cellar 2022 shows Pinot first with raspberry, cherry and violets
Tight tannins on the palate, built to last
Morello cherry then Black cherry, long flavours and promise, then the 35% wood shows support. High score
The Mentors Pinotage 2022 really impressed. It has a superb nose, intense, intriguing berry fruit and wood support
Lots of cherry on the silky palate, even a hint of amaretto
Soft and unctuous fruit in layers, soft chalky tannins and it ends with dark oak support
Pinot Noir character and Pinotage at its best. Lynne was convinced this was a top wine, one to win!
And told Izele that if it was entered at Veritas she would do very well....
A life changing canapé that paired perfectly with the Pinotages. So clever and it impressed around the room
A crisp macaron topped with beetroot jelly, roasted beetroot and some curd cheese
Wow! Thank you #GooseRoasters, the caterers for the evening
Michael Malan showing his Simonsig Redhill 2022 Pinotage made from 30 year old bush vines
Pinot notes, smoke and wood with good fruit on the nose
Rolling dark berry, cherry fruit on the complex palate, then spice and soft tannins with vanillin wood on the end
High score
Pouring Redhill Pinotage for Etienne Louw
and Beyers Truter
Diemersdal winemaker Mari Branders
The wine had herbal notes, then fruit and oak. Sweet berry fruit then some balancing acidity
Dr Alvi van der Merwe with his Alvi's Drift Verreaux 2023 Pinotage
Perfume and spice on the unexpected nose with dark fruit. Soft on the palate then widens with plum, rhubarb and berries
Abrie Beeslaar with his Beeslaar 2021 Pinotage
Interesting and enticing with spices and dark berries on the nose
Another silky and complex wine, juicy with layers of fruit and complexity, wood supporting. High score
Gerhard Swart, Flagstone
Truth Tree 2022 Pinotage went through some carbonic maceration and 18 months in 100 French oak (10% new)
Gravel soil minerality on the nose, fruit is way behind
Silky, with a strong hit of red and back fruit and 14% alcohol stays with dark oak end
Francois van Zyl with the Kanonkop 2016 Estate Pinotage
An attractive velvety nose, perfume of violets, savouriness and good wood support
Red berry fruit, chalky tannins and dark oak, all expected,
as this wine is built to last and has many more years to go. High score
Cape Wine Master Bennie Howard with JD Pretorius and a braised beef samoosa with a spicy dipping sauce
The marquee venue for the dinner
Taking advantage of some chairs
Our table
Jak de Priester and die Kaapse Lawaaimakers (noise makers) was the entertainment for the evening
Master of Ceremonies Johan Badenhorst, the producer and director of Voetspore, a travel documentary series,
opened proceedings
100 years ago, Professor Abraham Izak Perold developed Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Hermitage (Cinsaut)
Appointed in 1917 as the first Professor of Viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch and later its first Dean of Agriculture,
Perold planted the very first seedlings at Welgevallen. They were nearly lost when he joined KWV in Paarl in 1928
Those vines were saved by Dr. Charlie Niehaus and entrusted to Professor Chris Theron at Elsenburg,
who multiplied and selected them
Together, Perold and Theron chose the name “Pinotage,”
now inseparable from South Africa’s winemaking identity
Beyers Truter, chair of the Pinotage Association with his informative and amusing bilingual Pinotage Address
He said, "Pinotage is no longer the underdog
It is a grape that has proven its place in the world, and its future is brighter than ever
The wines we celebrate today, powerful, elegant, and age-worthy,
are proof of the extraordinary potential Pinotage still holds for the next 100 years"
Joachim Sa, South Africa MD of Amorim Cork, was at our table with his wife
Stonie Steenkamp of ABSA Agribusiness spoke about the long connection ABSA has had with the Pinotage Association
The menu and the programme
Note: "chicken as alternative for the no meat eaters" (it was a jest, there were very good vegetarian options)
The food was superb. Chefs Craig Cormack and Beau du Toit (Goose Roasters caterers) are a force to be reckoned with
and they are regularly employed as private chefs for wine industry events
Tender seared duck breast, rich chicken liver parfait, orange compote, a very good jus
The Main Course was tender fillets of Venison, on a roasted parsnip or celeriac purée,
a pear gastrique, carrot and gooseberry achar, apple crisp
The trophies
Elsabé Ferreira shows the Silver medallion weighing 1kg that has been specially made by The Cape Mint
to celebrate the Pinotage century. For the first time ever,
they have managed to encapsulate a small capsule of pinotage wine in this ground breaking medal
and in the smaller ones to be presented to the winners later
Elsabé with The Cape Mint team, Wendy de Vos and Mark Trout, waiting to stamp the angel mark on the medals
Beyers announces the winner of the first medal
The first medal was positioned by Wendy de Vos and Mark Trout
so that a small angel could be imprinted on each medal by the winner
and the winners were helped to stamp their own medals
Stamped with the angel over the glass
The wines we could taste with our dinner
Colour cast was a problem with all the red light around
We had the Beyerskloof Diesel and the KWV Mentors Pinotage, both superb wines, to pair with the food
Meerendal owners Aletta and Herman Coertze
Mini chiboust (crème patisserie lightened with meringue) on Millionaire's shortbread,
with a salted caramel swirl (amazing) and a dark chocolate mousse
The Top 10 Winners with their gold medals and framed certificates
The 2025 Top 10 Pinotage Winners
|
Producer |
Vintage |
Description |
WO |
Winemaker |
|
Alvi's Drift Wines International |
2023 |
Alvi's Drift Verreaux Pinotage |
Scherpenheuvel |
Dr Alvi van der Merwe |
|
Beyerskloof Wines |
2021 |
Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage |
Stellenbosch |
Anri Truter |
|
Bruce Jack Wines |
2022 |
Bruce Jack Heritage Flag of Truce Pinotage |
Breedekloof |
Bruce Jack |
|
Diemersdal Wine Estate |
2022 |
Diemersdal The Journal Pinotage |
Durbanville |
Juandré Bruwer and Thys Louw |
|
Flagstone Wynkelder |
2022 |
Flagstone Writer's Block Pinotage |
Coastal Region |
Gerhard Swart |
|
KWV |
2022 |
KWV The Mentors Pinotage |
Stellenbosch |
Izéle van Blerk |
|
Le Grand Domaine |
2022 |
Grand Vin de Stellenbosch Pinotage |
Stellenbosch |
Debbie Thompson |
|
Simonsig Wines |
2022 |
Simonsig Redhill Pinotage |
Stellenbosch |
Michael Malan |
|
Warwick Wine Estate |
2023 |
Warwick The Black Lady Pinotage |
Simonsberg-Stellenbosch |
JD Pretorius |
|
Wellington Wines |
2024 |
Wellington Wines Duke Pinotage |
Wellington |
Daniel Slabber |
The 10 Finalists received silver medalsA close up of the medal showing the encapsulated wine. And you can see the Angel positioned above the glass
This has never been done before, anywhere in the world
Lighting the way home
Meerendal manor house, three minutes past midnight
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
