Our panel votes on the top individual labels 

Unsurprisingly there was some correlation with the top twenty wineries – but by no means always. Interestingly, while Kanonkop had fallen back as a winery, the prestige and reputation of its top wine remains enormous: Paul Sauer was only just behind the winner of the red category, Boekenhoutskloof Syrah. In our 2003 poll, it had been top, followed by Rust en Vrede Estate Wine and the Vergelegen flagship blend – which this year was overtaken by another lustrous Cape wine, Meerlust Rubicon, and Columella, which had been voted one of the top newcomers in 2003. Just outside the top rank this year were Rustenberg Peter Barlow and Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.

Vergelegen's white blend had been the best newcomer white in 2003, and was the overwhelming winner in the Best white list. Even more emhatically ahead of the pack was Graham Beck's Blanc de Blanc in the Sparkling wine category. The non-fortified dessert wines were rather more tightly packed, with Ken Forrester T and the Paul Cluver Noble Late Harvest tying for second place not far behind Vin de Constance. It is notable that Klein Constantia had not figured anywhere near the list of top twenty wineries, despite the success of this one famous wine.

Ports dominated the Fortified class, with Bredell's coming just behind the top three, and only Monis Red Muscadel and Nuy White Muscadel representing the other great class of Cape fortified wines in gathering more than a few votes. Depressingly for the producers of all these wines, however, was the fact that three of the pollsters declined to vote for anything at all, as they didn't much enjoy fortified wines at all....

And the newcomers?
We did, in fact, call for nominations for the best new wines with shorter track records. The results, however, were such as to give plenty of hope for the wine industry, but no satisfaction for compilers of opinions. Too many wines were named for the results to be meaningful and we decided not to compile an official list of winners, but most of those named were undeniably plausible contenders. Significantly, perhaps, those that did best were white wines: Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh, Sadie Family Palladius (which also gathered votes in the Best White category, as its 'established' status is rather ambiguous), Oak Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and Sterhuis Chardonnay. The Capaia red blend was the best-performing of the reds. It is worth pointing out that two wineries did particularly well in having a number of their wines nominated: three Cape Point Vineyards wines and four from Solms-Delta. But a large number of wines received two or three votes, gratifyingly showing how excellence is spreading increasingly wide in the cape's wineries.

• Click here for the coverage of the Top Twenty wineries and the best new wineries.

The top SA wines

THE FIVE BEST REDS

Boekenhoutskloof Syrah

Kanonkop Paul Sauer

Sadie Family Columella

Meerlust Rubicon

Vergelegen Vergelegen

THE FIVE BEST WHITES

Vergelegen White

Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve

Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay

Rudera Robusto Chenin Blanc

Jordan Nine Yards Chardonnay

BEST SPARKLING WINES

Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs

Villiera Brut Natural

Graham Beck Brut

BEST NON-FORTIFIED DESSERT

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance

= Ken Forrester T

= Paul Cluver Weisser Riesling NLH

BEST FORTIFIED

De Krans Vintage Reserve Port

Axe Hill Cape Vintage Port

Boplaas Vintage Reserve Port

The voters:

Angela Lloyd, Carolyn Barton, Marilyn  Cooper, Cassie du Plessis, Christian Eedes, Michael Fridjhon, Dave Hughes, Tim James, Hymli Krige, Cathy Marston, Ludwig Maske, John Maytham, Kim Maxwell, Fiona McDonald, Melvyn Minnaar, Ingrid Motteux, Roland Peens, John Platter, J-P Rossouw, Christine Rudman, Jonathan Steyn, Cathy van Zyl, Philip van Zyl, Meryl Weaver