In the year marking 50 years of bottling and labelling its own wine, three of Simonsig Wine Estate’s wines achieved Double Platinum status in this year’s prestigious SA Top 100 Competition, with one adjudged Best in Class. Simonsig’s iconic Redhill Pinotage 2015 topped the Pinotage Class with a Grand Cru Award at a time when South Africa is making some of its finest Pinotages in its history. The Estate’s Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2015 and Merindol Syrah 2016 joined the Redhill Pinotage 2015 in winning Simonsig’s three Double Platinum Awards, as well as spots in the Top 100 list for 2018.
Besides this, Simonsig was also presented with Joint 3rd place (with 25 Top 100 wines over the period of eight years) for the Vineyard Consistency Award, as well at Joint 2nd place for the Wine Consistency Award for Redhill Pinotage.
The annual Top 100 list is the result of rigorous judging of the finest South African wine offerings and is recognised as a leading indicator of the country’s finest wines. On top of this, seven other Simonsig wines were awarded Double Gold Medals, namely the Chenin Avec Chene 2016, Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rosé 2016, Merindol Syrah 2015, Pinotage Redhill 2014, Chenin Blanc 2015, Chardonnay 2017 and the classic Bordeaux-styled blend Tiara 2013.
According to cellar master, Johan Malan, the achievement at this year’s SA Top 100 underscored the estate’s ability to make a diverse range of wines at a premium level of quality.
“Simonsig has an extensive range of wines and we are fortunate to see our diversity regularly awarded at wine shows,” he said. “While one would obviously like as many of your wines as possible to make the Top 100, we are heartened by the recognition that three of our classic wines received this honour. It is a fact that red wines form the pinnacle for wine recognition, and with South Africa producing the finest red wines in its history, it is a major achievement to see our Redhill Pinotage and Merindol Syrah now being considered among the finest in the country.”
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of making and bottling wine under the Simonsig label this year, Malan says the Top 100 award for the Redhill Pinotage 2015, Kaapse Vonkel 2015 and the Double Golds for the two Chenin Blanc wines were of great significance.
“Chenin Blanc, Pinotage and Cap Classique represent a major part of Simonsig’s legacy,” he says. “The first white wine bottle to bear a Simonsig label was a Steen (Chenin Blanc) 1968, and Pinotage was our first red. In 1971 Simonsig released South Africa’s first bottle-fermented sparkling wine, Kaapse Vonkel, which paved the way for the Cap Classique Category. To see pieces of our history still garner awards today is tremendously satisfying.”
Johan says the SA Top 100 is an excellent vehicle for guiding the consumer. “Besides the high quality of South African wines, there is also the fact that the wine-lover has never had so many wines to choose from due to the proliferation of producers and wine labels,” he says.
“With its distinctive logo the list of SA Top 100 Wines is a welcome indication to consumers looking for wines which have passed a stringent selection process recognising top quality.”