“Back-in-the-day”, when I was a wee wine novice, I bought wine purely based on stickers. I took my Platters Guide with me to every wine farm and used it as a measure for every wine I tasted and bought; without knocking the guide, I think it’s an excellent practice to have SA wines all listed in one easily digestible format, however, it did stop me from branching out and making up my own mind. Likewise with the wine bottles that are covered in a multitude of awards, they were the first bottles I grabbed never mind that I didn’t like that particular cultivar.
These stickers also act as a bit of a status symbol and if I went to dinner, I would take along a heavily gilded specimen.
But what do all these stickers mean?
Nine times out of ten those that buy for stickers barely know the competition for which the award was given SO I’m going to try and break down some of the well-known and recognized awards so that the next time you go to grab a bottle, you know exactly what that sticker represents.
(There are LOADS of competitions and I will try to mention all of the prevalent ones...omissions don’t mean a thing, this isn’t Mean Girls)
Let’s begin at home...
Veritas
These are the Gold (you also get Double Gold which means it's amaaazing), Silver and Bronze stickers with a Roman looking laurel. They denote one of SA’s most highly recognized wine competitions that receives on average 1750+ entries every year. The judging panel is ridiculously big with a total of 18 categories needing attention.
By their own emission, “The Veritas Awards is the longest running
and most prestigious wine competition in South Africa and is synonymous
with excellence in wine.”
The awards get handed out at a very swanky event (it's like the Oscars) at the beginning of October so expect to see lots of winemakers and writers tweeting about it.
Read more about Veritas here
Michelangelo
International Judges make this a go-to competition for SA winemakers because it means that different palates will make the judgement and compare our wines against global standards. It's definitely a good benchmark for choosing a wine.
It’s completely self-funded, like Veritas, and has been running for 18 years. The awards ceremony is relatively low-key in terms of social media punting.
Read more about it here
Old Mutual Awards
As the name states, it is backed by Old Mutual and the chairman is renowned wine writer and judge, Michael Fridjhon.
The panel for this year’s competition consisted of three international judges and six local judges. There is always a feedback session before the awards announcement which is great for getting more information on the strongest performing categories and what SA still needs to work on.
Read more about it here
SA Top 100
Its aim is to help you buy smarter by helping you recognize SA’s best wines. 137 wineries entered this year with 491 wines entered.
Read more about it here
Platter's
It started in 1978 and the Platter's Guide continues to be one our most trusted wine guides. Their mission statement states “We'd like to encourage you to taste, buy and responsibly enjoy South African wine, and if we can help you choose a bottle to get excited about, invest in, show off with, cook up a storm over, or just enjoy for its own sake, we'd consider it job done.”
The guide makes mention of all SA wineries and the majority of them have all their wines tasted by the Platter’s judges which makes it the most comprehensive collection in the country...and an ideal companion for those who want to get out into the winelands.
The actual awards take place towards the end of the year and rewards the 5* wines as well as the winery of the year.
The stickers we see on wine bottles are usually for the 4*
and 5* rated wines.
Read more about it here
Novare Terroir
"The Novare SA Terroir Wine Awards honour the wines
which truly portray South Africa's different wine growing areas, making it the
most exclusive wine competition on the international scene"
Fancy stuff that. Terroir is a tricky thing to get your head around so to explain, as basically as I can, it’s simply the area/location/soil and additional affecting elements (temperature and weather) that contribute to the vines' growth and in turn the wine. Like the way coffee tastes different from various continents...
I would say that this is more of an award for industry professionals/winemakers than perhaps you or I but with careful marketing, I think it could be quite a “hip” thing.
Read more about it here
Amorim
Cap Classique Challenge
It is the only MCC specific award in SA which celebrates not only our best MCCs and Sparkling wines, but those who continuously help to build the profile of MCC in SA.
The
Challenge is sponsored by Portuguese-based cork company Amorim.
Read more about it here
International Awards
IWSC
"The original aim of the IWSC was to award excellence to wines and spirits worldwide. This remains the aim today, with the Competition now in its 45th year, encouraging consumer and trade recognition for quality products." Over 90 countries enter their wines which are judged at a central headquarter in England and it's quite a serious operation with potential medal winners having to have their wines scientifically tested.
This year 632 SA wines were entered.
Personally, when I was over in the UK, I used the IWSC stickers as my guide on what to buy because I knew I was getting quality. Bruce Jack of Flagstone Wines says that when it comes to IWSC, "it is one of the few (awards) that really works as it is recognised by consumers. Effective competitions need to connect with the consumer and that is something the IWSC does well. Another reason for the IWSC being our first choice is the professionalism and the way in which it presents itself"
Learn more about it here
Decanter
What they say: "The Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) is the world’s largest and most influential wine competition. Judged by the world’s wine experts, the results provide a comprehensive list of wine recommendations and international stockists."
You can't miss that trademark D on wine bottles but it's fairly expensive to enter so sightings are rare...expect the big boys of SA wine and those with flawless track records to enter.
The only sad thing is that you won't be able to taste the entire range of winners...Learn more here
Now that you’ve successfully got through that list, it’s important to note that for each competition, there is an entry fee. No award comes for free and those stickers cost a pretty penny. The only decoration that costs nothing is your personal preference and your constant purchases.
I would love to know your thoughts and of course, if you wish to punt any stickers that I have forgotten about....