Rijk’s of Tulbagh makes it 7 out of 10 at Top 10 Pinotage competition showcase

Absa Top 10 bottle sticker - top 10 seelTHE HONOUR for most trophies won by a producer at the Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition since it began 19 years back (1997) is shared by Kanonkop of Stellenbosch and Rijk’s of Tulbagh at 10 each. However during the last 10 years of the shoot-out (2006 to 2015), the judges on the Top 10 tasting panels have awarded seven to Rijk’s, six to Windmeul of Paarl and five each to Beyerskloof of Stellenbosch and Diemersdal of Durbanville.

For some reason, of the Top 10 wines in the South African Pinotage Classification, Diemersfontein of Wellington and Kaapzicht of Stellenbosch haven’t got the nod at the annual showcase of the SA wine industry’s Pinotage Association since 2009/2010, whereas they continued to shine internationally. Bottom line? The Pinotage producers with the best track records overall in recent history (2006 to 2015) are Kanonkop, Simonsig and Rijk’s, followed by Beyerskloof, Diemersfontein and Windmeul.

The winners of the 2015 Absa Top 10 contested by 154 wines were as follows:

Altydgedacht Pinotage 2013 @ R115pb, cellar door Durbanville
Ayama Pinotage 2013 @ R62pb, cellar door Voor-Paardeberg, Paarl
Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2014 @ R125pb, cellar door Durbanville
Flagstone Writer’s Block Pinotage 2013 @ R195pb, cellar door Somerset West/Strand
Groot Constantia Pinotage 2013 @ R174pb, cellar door Constantia
Kanonkop Pinotage 2012 @ R280pb, cellar door Simonsberg, Stellenbosch
Neethlingshof Pinotage 2014 @ R80pb, cellar door Stellenbosch
Rijk’s Reserve Pinotage 2011 @ R350pb, cellar door Tulbagh
Survivor Pinotage 2014 (Overhex) @ R125pb, cellar door Worcester (Swartland wine)
Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2014 @ R100pb, cellar door Paarl

The producers who’ve excelled most consistently at the Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition over the past 10 years (2006 to 2015) are as follows:

Altydgedacht – winner four times, runner-up once
Anura – winner three times, runner-up twice
Beyerskloof – winner five times, runner-up once
Diemersdal – winner five times, runner-up thrice
Fairview – winner three times, runner-up twice
Flagstone – winner three times
Kanonkop – winner four times, runner-up five times
Lyngrove – winner three times, runner-up twice
Rijk’s – winner seven times, runner-up thrice
Simonsig – winner four times, runner-up thrice
Spier – winner three times, runner-up seven times
Stellenzicht – winner three times, runner-up once
Wildekrans – winner three times, runner-up once
Windmeul – winner six times, runner-up five times

For details of all of the top Pinotage ratings and awards over the past two years together with the cellar-door prices, click here. For the producers’ contact info and links to their websites, click here.

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