Worcester producer,
Swartland grapes

NO SIMONSIG, no Beyerskloof, no Diemersfontein, no Kaapzicht and/but… There are some familiar names plus a bunch of respectable newcomers among the 20 finalists in the 2015 Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition of which the winners are due to be announced on Friday, August 28.

The biggest head-turner among the Top 20 chosen from over 150 entries in the Pinotage (Producers) Association’s taste-off this year has to be the 2014 ‘Survivor’ Pinotage from Overhex Wines International – Worcester winery, Swartland grapes, a couple of farms including one called Constantia and on the label a Nguni cow, origin KwaZulu-Natal! Click here for ‘The Story’. Available for purchase from October at R125 a bottle, ex-cellar.

The judging panel: Cape Wine Master Duimpie Bayly, winemakers Neil Ellis, Fred Viljoen (Viljoensdrift) and Corlea Fourie (Bosman), wine writer Samarie Smit (Die Burger), sommelier Georgio Meletio (Southern Sun) and viticulturist Stephan Joubert (DGB).

2015 ABSA TOP 10 PINOTAGE FINALISTS

Altydgedacht Pinotage 2013 – Durbanville
Ayama Pinotage 2013 – Voor Paardeberg, Paarl
Beeslaar Pinotage 2013 – Stellenbosch
Dewaldt Heyns Weathered Hands Pinotage 2012 – Swartland
Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2014 – Durbanville
Eikendal Pinotage 2013 – Helderberg, Stellenbosch
Flagstone Writer’s Block Pinotage 2013 – Somerset West
Groot Constantia Pinotage 2013 – Constantia
Kanonkop Pinotage 2010 – Simonsberg, Stellenbosch
Kanonkop Pinotage 2012 – Simonsberg, Stellenbosch
Lanzerac Pionier Pinotage 2012 – Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch
Môreson The Widow Maker Pinotage 2013 – Franschhoek
Neethlingshof Pinotage 2014 – Stellenbosch
Rijk’s Private Cellar Pinotage 2011 – Tulbagh
Rijk’s Reserve Pinotage 2011 – Tulbagh
Sumaridge Pinotage 2013 – Upper Hemel-en-Aarde, Hermanus
Survivor Pinotage 2014 (Overhex) – Swartland
The Dry Land Collection Pinotage 2012 (Perdeberg) – Paarl
Wildekrans Barrel Select Pinotage 2013 – Bot River
Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2014 – Paarl