Jean Daneel won the Best White Wine Trophy for his Signature Chenin Blanc 2006, Groot Constantia took the Best Red Wine Trophy for their Gouverneurs Shiraz 2006 and Klein Constantia's 2004 vintage of their iconic Vin de Constance won the Best Sweet Wine Trophy. Organiser Christophe Durand commented on Chamonix's overall win saying, "Their consistency as an estate over the years has been amazing. I'm very happy with their victory and the outcome of this year's competition as a whole." Winning wines were chosen over three days of tasting, held at Mandela Rhodes Place. These were announced at a festive awards lunch at the Vineyard Hotel, where media, trade and the estate representatives could enjoy the winning wines. Germain Lehodey opened the ceremonies, and mentioned that the judges found Sauvignon Blanc entries the most disappointing. Southern Right was the only Sauvignon Blanc Gold Medal winner. Winning wineries came from a wide variety of areas, including Walker Bay, Napier, Tulbagh and the Cederberg amongst others. For the first time this year, GQ Magazine presented three wines with the GQ Choice award. These were chosen from amongst the Gold Medal winners with quality, value-for-money and the average wine consumer in mind. Winners were Jean Daneel Signature Chenin Blanc 2006, Groot Constantia Pinotage 2007 and the Cape Chamonix Pinot Noir Reserve 2007. The Santam Classic Wine Trophy is unique in South Africa in that it only awards a set number of medals and trophies to ensure each medal winner meets the highest of standards. 2009 Santam Classic Wine Trophy Winners Overall Winner Cape Chamonix Wines GQ Choice Awards Jean Daneel Signature Chenin Blanc 2006 Groot Constantia Pinotage 2007 Cape Chamonix Pinot Noir Reserve 2007 Best Red Wine Trophy Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Shiraz 2006 Best White Wine Trophy Jean Daneel Signature Chenin Blanc 2006 Best Sweet Wine Trophy Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2004 Gold Medals - Red Wines Groot Constantia Pinotage 2007 De Wetshof Estate Nature in Concert Pinot Noir 2006 La Motte Pierneef Shiraz/Viognier 2007 Cape Chamonix Pinot Noir Reserve 2007 Warwick Trilogy 2005 Klein Constantia Marlbrook 2006 Cederberg Shiraz 2006 Morgenster Lourens River Valley 2004 Saronsberg Seismic 2005 Gold Medals - White Wines Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Cape Chamonix Chardonnay Reserve 2007 Ataraxia Chardonnay 2008 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay 2008 Gold Medal - Sparkling Wine Simonsig Cuvee Royale 2003 Best Sparkling Wine Trophy Simonsig Cuvee Royale 2003 Judges Jean-Michel Gerin - Top wine producer of the Rhone Valley. www.domaine-gerin.fr / www.olivierpoussier.com Olivier Poels - Editor/Journalist RVF. www.larvf.com Denis Saverot - Chief Editor RVF. www.larvf.com Jean Daniel Angibaud - Sommelier of the Le Meridien hotel in Dubai. www.lemeridien.com Claude Gilois - French wine importer. Owner of Vins du Monde. www.vinsdumonde.com Christophe Durand - Organiser and owner of Vins D'Orrance. www.vinsdorrance.co.za Germain Lehodey - Ex general manager of the Lynton Hall hotel in Durban. Owner of the French restaurant Village Bistro in Irene, Pretoria. Jean Yves Muller - Owner of the Caveau and Headquarters restaurants. www.caveau.co.za Dennis Garret - Sommelier, President Club Professionals du Vin a Paris Khaled Rouabah - Wine importer and producer in Burgundy Guest judges Sydney Buthelezi - Wine buyer for the group Makro in RSA. Miguel Chan - Sommelier at Cellars-Hohenort hotel, Cape Town. Schedule of events This year's competition started on 2nd March 2009, and the blind tasting was conducted over a period of three days at Mandela Rhodes Place. Winners were invited to an exclusive awards lunch on Friday, 6th March 2009 at The Vineyard Hotel in Newlands. Tasting procedure The blind tasting was done over a three-day period. The wines were cross-tasted by panels of three judges each. The chosen wines were then blind tasted again, over three rounds. During the Grand Final, the wines were again tasted by all judges. All OIV procedure will be adhered to, and one OIV official judge will be assessing the ratings. The GQ Choice Awards were decided by GQ Magazine Editor, Craig Tyson, and GQ Wine Writer, Jonothan Steyn (sommelier and partner in Balthazar Restaurant). The Gold Medal winners were first blind tasted then unveiled and retasted. Christophe Durand (Organiser) Born and raised in France, to a family of Calvados producers, Christophe Durand moved to Cape Town in 1995. Beginning as a supplier of premium French wine barrels and very much involved in winemaking, it was only a matter of time until he brought together his knowledge and passion for fines wines into creating his own. After putting his hands on a small and beautiful vineyard in the Simonsberg area, he created his own label, called Vins D'Orrance. Combining the best of both worlds, his first wine came to life as a beautiful Syrah 2001 called Cuvee Ameena dedicated to his oldest daughter. After much success with the syrah, it was time to create another. In 2004, after sourcing some stunning grapes from the valley of Constantia, Christophe made his first Chardonnay Cuvee Anais named after his baby girl. Both his wines are, unpretentious and enjoyable, just like the man would like to describe himself. The wines are made with dedication, skill and intelligent oaking, complimenting rather than dominating the wine. After being a partner in the Classic Wine Trophy for the past few years with Jean-Vincent Ridon, Christophe bought full ownership of the competition in 2008 to become the sole organiser. Santam (Official Sponsor) Santam is the leading short-term insurer in South Africa with a market share exceeding 20%. The company focuses on the corporate, commercial and personal markets. Research has indicated that Santam is already starting to own the concept of risk management in the hearts and minds of consumers. To ensure sustainability, a brand can only be built from the inside out. Therefore, the business places a high priority on enabling staff to support the brand promise through service delivery. Santam views its broker relationships as one of its core strengths and continues to promote it as the channel of choice to clients. With assets totalling more than R17 billion, a countrywide infrastructure and broker network and more than 650 000 policyholders, our yellow umbrella is truly covering South Africa. Santam also has business interests in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. It holds strategic investments in various companies in the insurance industry, including the subsidiary Santam Namibia Ltd.