Tokara wines ruffle feathers at the Six Nations Wine Challenge

Tuesday, 21 October, 2014
Tokara
Last week was marked once again with Southern Hemisphere rivalry of epic proportions, both on the sports field and in the wine arena. On the rugby field as most rugby enthusiasts would attest to, it was the final round of The Rugby Championship between South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina that was concluded in true memorable fashion.

In addition to these four rugby nations, Chile and the United States join the fray in the hope of being awarded at the Six Nations Wine Challenge. 

This year, six of the world’s most experienced wine judges were tasked to discover the best wines in 17 classes from 600 wines, all selected by them as the best wines their nations produce.

When the results were announced at this year’s Six Nations Wine Challenge Trophy Dinner in Sydney Australia, it was TOKARA that proudly stood out as one of the most decorated producers from South Africa. It was however the TOKARA Reserve Collection Sauvignon blanc 2014 (Elgin origin) that would truly ruffle Kiwi feathers and in the process emulate in similar fashion the Bok victory over New Zealand earlier in the week. This wine was proudly awarded the Sauvignon blanc Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc entered, notably in a category which has traditionally been dominated by New Zealand.

The following TOKARA wines were awarded:

SAUVIGNON BLANC TROPHY:

2014 TOKARA Reserve Collection Sauvignon Blanc - Elgin

BORDEAUX BLENDS DOUBLE GOLD:

2010 TOKARA Director's Reserve Red

WHITE BLENDS GOLD MEDAL:

2012 TOKARA Director's Reserve White

“We had a particularly challenging harvest out in Elgin this year. We encountered early rainfall at that site which persisted for the remainder of the picking period, testing the patience of both our viticulture and cellar teams. It was required of us to be very selective in the vineyards in terms of the fruit we wanted to pick, particularly in our top blocks. Once the grapes reached the cellar we had to exercise extreme care. This trophy award reinforces the fact that hard work truly does pay off.

Receiving gold medals for both our, already extensively decorated, Director’s Reserve wines was also a great honour.” Miles Mossop - TOKARA Winemaker