NEDERBURG ACHIEVES TOP HONOUR AT MICHELANGELO AWARDS

Posted by Arie Bolt on 07 September 2022 1:05 PM CAT

Nederburg has won the Bidvest Top SA Producer Trophy at the Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards 2022.  Now in its 26^th year, it’s regarded as Africa’s largest wine and spirits competition, unique in that all judges are hand-picked wine experts hailing from five different continents. 

The multiple award-winning Paarl cellar also walked away with the Jetcraft Cabernet Sauvignon Trophy, awarded for its Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.

A Michelangelo trophy wine represents both the top 1.1% of all entries received, as well as best in class.

The trophy-winning Cabernet Sauvignon by Nederburg features fruit sourced from Paarl and Darling, matured in French oak barrels for 30 months. Only 1 200 litres of this wine were bottled, with a small amount still available to order via www.vinoteque.co.za. (A later vintage of this wine, the 2018, achieved the top honour for Cabernet Sauvignon at the recent 2022 The Drinks Business Global Cabernet Sauvignon Masters in the United Kingdom (UK), earning a prestigious Master medal. This vintage will be released to the public by the end of September.)

Nederburg has also earned 13 prestigious Michelangelo platinum, double gold and gold medals. 

The platinum, applicable to wines that receive 96 points or more out of 100, went to Nederburg’s The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2021, made from Muscat de Frontignan and Chenin blanc grapes affected by botrytis cinerea. Also known as noble rot, this is the special fungus that, if the weather plays along, attacks the grapes to concentrate their sugars to create wines of extraordinary lusciousness and complexity. In 1969, Günter Brözel, Nederburg’s cellar-master at the time, pioneered the making of noble late harvest wines in South Africa. 

Four Nederburg wines achieved double gold, or at least 93 points each, including its Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, The Manor House Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Heritage Heroes The Anchor Man Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2021 and The Winemasters Sauvignon Blanc 2022. 

Nederburg has also been awarded eight gold medals for wines scoring at least 89 points. These are the Private Bin Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Private Bin Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, The Winemasters Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, Heritage Heroes The Brew Master Bordeaux-style red blend 2018, The Winemasters Shiraz 2020, and The Manor House Chardonnay 2021.

Nederburg cellar-master, Samuel Viljoen, says the team is hugely excited about the recent accomplishments. “We’re on a roll - raking in the awards for wines across our multi-tiered range, from our ultra-premium Private Bins to more accessible offerings such as the wines that form part of our The Winemasters collection. It demonstrates the careful attention to detail applied in every step of the winemaking process, no matter the wines involved, and that our commitment to ongoing innovation and best practice, in the vineyards and the cellar, keeps paying off. Recognition such as this serves as a great motivator for our cellar and viticulture teams to keep exploring, experimenting and bettering their best efforts.”

Visit www.nederburg.com and www.vinoteque.co.za for more information on the winning wines, and to buy these to add to your wine collection. 

Note to the editor

Nederburg prides itself on its long-established eco-conscious mindset. The winery piloted the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) production integrity programme introduced industrywide in South Africa, in 1998. It was considered ground-breaking for its time and has since been adopted by virtually all South African wine growers.

The winery is also a WWF Conservation Champion, recognised for its water stewardship that is based on the principles set out by the internationally recognised Alliance for Water Stewardship.