Pinotage and Hanepoot Rake in Michelangelo Golds for Du Toitskloof Wines
Thursday, 18 September, 2014
Du Toitskloof Winery
Du Toitskloof Wines from Rawsonville struck Double Gold at this year’s Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards, one of South Africa’s leading wine competitions, winning a gleaming gong each for the Du Toitskloof Pinotage 2012 and the winery’s iconic Hanepoot Jerepigo 2013.
The Michelangelo Awards are unique by South African wine competition standards as the judging panel is made up of mostly international judges and include only one local palate. This year’s competition saw 14 judges from other countries and one South African judge the over 1 500 wines entered.
According to Shawn Thomson, cellar master at Du Toitskloof Wines, achieving two Gold medals at this competition is a tremendous achievement for a winery known as a consumer-driven producer of popular, value-for-money wines.
“As an entrant to the Michelangelo Awards a winery is not only up against a team of discerning foreign judges, but you also find yourself competing with the very best the South African wine industry has to offer,” says Thomson. “The Gold medals for our Pinotage and the Hanepoot Jerepigo are thus great achievements and give recognition to the wine-making team as well as Du Toitskloof shareholder grape farmers who continue to supply the winery with fruit of an ever-increasing quality.”
The award for the Du Toitskloof Pinotage vindicates a philosophy towards accessible, fruit-forward and pure wine-making.
“We believe in getting the wine into the bottle with minimum intervention allowing the clean berry flavours of the Pinotage to speak for themselves, as this is the red wine style today’s consumers prefer,” says Thomson. “I think this accessible and clean Pinotage, which hardly saw any wood, would have stood out in a line-up as these days judges tend to pay less attention to the big, powerful show-stoppers so popular a while back.”
The other Gold winner, Du Toitskloof’s Hanepoot Jerepigo, a fortified wine made from the Muscat d’Alexandrie grape, has cult status among Du Toitskloof’s fans.
“Muscat-flavoured wines are coming back in a big way, and Hanepoot is the queen of all muscat wines,” says Thomson. “This decadently sweet grape flourishes in our sunny Breedekloof wine region, reaching ripeness and opulence that are wonderful to work with. Sure, it’s a sticky business making the Hanepoot Jerepigo, but the delicious end-product is nothing but bliss.
“And a Hanepoot will always be a glass of gold – with or without a medal.”
Du Toitskloof Pinotage 2012 and Hanepoot Jerepigo 2013 - Michelangelo Winners
|
Shawn Thomson, Du Toitskloof Wines' cellar master
|