More golds from London 28 May 2008

Results of the Decanter Awards for 2008

The British wine magazine Decanter has made available the results of the 2008 edition of its large annual international competition. Although the magazine website indicates that the results are for the wine trade only until September, there is no problem in anyone accessing them – but there is little overview offered of the entries, other than that there were 9219 of them, which makes it pretty much as large as the International Wine Challenge (whose results we reported last week) which claims 'over
9 000'.

The Decanter Awards entries are judged primarily in their regional groupings. Interestingly, the judges seem not to be aware that they should not much approve of Cape red wines, and were markedly more generous to them (and indeed to South Africa as a whole) than was the IWC panel. The wines here are also tasted in two divisions according to price: over and under ten pounds.

The highest ratings in the judging based on those groupings are Regional trophies. South African Regional Trophies went to:

• Red Rhone Varietals Over £10: Amani Cabernet Franc/Merlot 2006

• Red Rhone Varietals Over £10: Cederberg Shiraz 2006

• White Single Varietals Under £10: Cederberg Sustainable Chenin Blanc 2007

• Sweet Over £10: Delheim Edelspatz Noble Late Harvest 2007

• Red Blend Over £10: Engelbrecht Els Proprietor's Blend 2005

• Red Bordeaux Varietals Over £10: Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2004

• Red Single Varietals Over £10: Kanonkop Pinotage 2004

• White Single Varietals Over £10: KWV Mentor Selection Chenin Blanc 2006

• Sauvignon Blanc Under £10: Lomond Pincushion Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc  2007

• Chardonnay Under £10: Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2007

• Chardonnay Over £10: Rustenberg Five Soldiers 2006

• White Blend Over £10: Tokara White 2006

The following wines won gold medals:

• Buitenverwachting Christine 2003

• Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2005

• Eikendal Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2007

• Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2007

• Elgin Vintners Shiraz 2006

• Escapade Winery Escapades Shiraz 2006

• Glen Carlou Chardonnay 2007

• Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2002

• Morgenster Estate 2004

• Southern Right Pinotage 2006

• Spice Route Flagship Syrah 2005

• Spier Wines Spier Private Collection Shiraz 2005

• Spier Wines Spier Vintage Selection Shiraz/Mourvedre/Viognier 2005

Surprises and consistencies

There are some surprises, of course – less amongst the winners (which are mostly wines that are already highly respected) than among the lesser performers. Amongst the Commended wines in the Decanter competition, which is the level below bronze, are to be found some very well known names, including Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2006, Chamonix Chardonnay Reserve 2006, and

Especially given the shortage of red wines on the International Wine Challenge list of South African golds, there was very little overlap in awards with that competion (of course, it is very unlikely that all producers who entered the one competition also entered the other): There was some consistency, however. Vin de Constance 2002 seems to be the single instance of a double winner. Spier featured in both lists of gold medallists, but with different wines – this winery is performing more than creditably on the international circuit these days, having also done very well at the Concours Mondial. Oak Valley Chardonnay 2006 rated a gold for the IWC and a Silver for Decanter. Engelbrecht Els 2005 got gold here, beating Ernie Els 2004 (bronze), but it got bronze for the IWC (where Ernie rated silver). De Toren Fusion V solidly rated silver in both.

• Link to the Decanter Awards website