Old players, new flag-bearers: these are the Trophy Wine Show’s top dogs

Change is difficult to measure when you’re in the midst of it. Looking back has its own limitations, however, mainly because you cannot recapture the zeitgeist of the time. Occasionally, at least with wine, you can review the past in the way archaeologists work their way through the multiple levels of civilisations built on the ruins of those they conquered. You can look at competition results, for example, and talk about the fashions they reflect as a way of tracking the changes.

This year, being the 20th edition of the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, I thought I would examine the 2021 results through a viewfinder which looks at the laureates of the inaugural competition. To put some perspective on the two decades, it seemed useful to add the midpoint, 2011, to the visual field. I have as much a personal as a dispassionate interest in this exercise. I have been show chairperson since 2002. Every year I look very closely at what the judging panels have achieved, but then I move on. With wine at least, the future holds the promise of summers still to come.

The show was launched less than a decade after the end of isolation. Exports were booming and SA wines were finding their way into the markets from which they had been banned for decades. Many of our winemakers had spent their entire professional lives without the intellectual engagement that comes from being an active part of the wider world of wine. The same was true, though to a lesser extent, about our wine judges.

Fast forward to this year, when the trophy for best producer was won by Diemersdal, the show’s top red came from Diemersfontein (Thokozani Cabernet Franc 2019) and the best white the De Grendel Op die Berg Chardonnay 2020.

Fortunately that inaugural show attracted legendary judge and wine writer Oz Clarke, who embraced, with his usual enthusiasm, the idea of a competition that would enable SA to begin calibrating (from a quality and stylistic perspective) with the demands of the markets we were trying to penetrate. He was joined by Anthony Rose, wine writer for The Independent in the UK; Tony Jordan, who headed Domaine Chandon in Australia; Kiwi-trained winemaker Rod Easthope; and British Master of Wine Richard Kelley, as well as several South Africans.

That year the best producer award was shared by De Trafford and Vergelegen. Among the trophy and gold medal winners were Kanonkop (Paul Sauer 1998 and Cabernet Sauvignon 1998), Stark-Conde (Conde Cabernet 2000), Diemersfontein (Carpe Diem Pinotage 2001), Boplaas (Cape Vintage Reserve 1999), Jordan (Chardonnay 2001 and Chenin Blanc 2001) and Cederberg (V Generations Cabernet 2000).

In 2011 the international judges included Neal Martin (writing for Robert Parker), Thierry Desseauve (founding partner of La Revue du Vin de France) and Debra Meiburg, Master of Wine from Hong Kong. Spier won the best winery award. Top wines included Thelema Shiraz 2007, Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2008, Rijk’s Pinotage 2007, Delaire-Graff Coastal Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Jordan Riesling 2009 and several KWV wines, including a 1933 White Jerepigo.

Fast forward to this year, where the trophy for best producer was won by Diemersdal, the show’s top red came from Diemersfontein (Thokozani Cabernet Franc 2019) and the best white the De Grendel Op die Berg Chardonnay 2020. Among the trophy winners were Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve 2017, Stark-Conde Field Blend 2020, Delaire-Graff White Reserve and newcomer Oldenburg Per Se Cabernet 2019.

There are some interesting conclusions: first that the truly substantial producers have kept pace with the times. Kanonkop, Paul Cluver, Boplaas, Jordan, Thelema, Diemersfontein, Rijk’s, Stark-Conde are still important players (even if we don’t always recognise this, because our focus is on the new and exciting).

It’s also important to celebrate the new: they are the flag-bearers of the future. Among this year’s top laureates about 30% had never before been on the winners’ podium. Half weren’t even in business at the time of the first Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. The newcomers breathe new life into the industry: the truly successful stand the test of time and provide a beacon for others to follow.

For the full results of the 2021 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show visit trophywineshow.co.za.