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The Durbanville Wine Valley opened its arms to 50 wine experts, all judges in the Concours Mondial du Sauvignon, which was held in Franschhoek from Monday 13 March to Friday 17 March.
It was the first time ever that this wine competition – considered to be the “world championships for sauvignon blanc” – was held in South Africa or Africa.
Judging took place over three days and the results will be announced today in Düsseldorf in Germany at Prowein, the only international trade fair that covers the complete global market.
More than 1 000 sauvignon blanc wines from all over the world competed for the attention of 50 judges, of which 40 were international and 10 local wine experts.
The SA judges on the panel were Cape wine masters Dr Winnie Bowman and René Groenewald, as well as Heidi Duminy, Francois Rautenbach, Dr Carien Coetzee, Cathy Marston, Christian Eedes, Fiona McDonald, Joseph Dhafana and Malu Lambert.
Special dinner
The international contingent hail from countries in Europe, Brazil, Mexico, Croatia, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States of America.
The judges have welcomed the country wine excursions to Durbanville, Constantia and Stellenbosch, and with a special dinner hosted by the wine estates Diemersdal, Groot Constantia and Vergelegen.
A regional wine safari was presented at Durbanville Hills where the judges were guided along stations of canapes and a variety of white and red wines represented by the Durbanville wine valley’s 13 producers.
Diemersdal Wine Estate paid host to the judges with a special dinner event.
“This is a dream come true,” says RJ Botha, chair of Sauvignon Blanc South Africa.
“We started negotiations four years ago with Quentin Havaux, director of the Concours Mondial du Sauvignon. After months and months of discussions, bringing partners on board, and making almost impossible plans, we are reaping the fruit of our labour. What a wonderful opportunity for our cultivar organisation, our wine industry, and our country, to showcase our resilience, excellence and Mzansi magic,” he says.
Sauvignon Safari
Although Concours Mondial is a trade-only competition, good news for Sauvignon Blanc enthusiasts is that a Sauvignon Safari will be hosted in the Cape Winelands as part of the International Sauvignon Blanc Day celebrations during May 2023.
The Sauvignon Safari will be an interactive Around World experience of Sauvignon Blanc, including a tasting of participating Concours competing wines, as well as trophy, gold and silver medal winners.
- Visit www.sauvignonblanc.com or contact Sauvignon Blanc SA at info@sauvignonblanc.com or 082 808 1114 for more information
