Avondale MCC wins three awards at Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships

Wednesday, 9 September, 2015
Manley Communications
Avondale, one of South Africa’s leading organic and biodynamic wine farms, is delighted to announce they are the winners of three top awards at the second Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships.

Set up and organised by the world’s leading authority on Champagne, Tom Stevenson, the competition has attracted some of the most prestigious names in wine from around the world, making Avondale’s success even more exciting and noteworthy. The Paarl-based winery won not only Best South African Sparkling Wine overall, but also walked off with the trophies for Best Blanc de Blanc MCC and Best Organic MCC, making them triple-winners and the most successful South African sparkling wine in this competition to date.

The Avondale Armilla MCC Blanc de Blanc 2009 is made from organically-grown Chardonnay grapes. The grapes were carefully handled throughout the winemaking process and very little sulphur was added at any stage. Once the wine was bottled for its second fermentation, it was left on the lees for a full five years before being released in September last year. This extended lees contact has given the wine richness and complexity whilst still retaining its natural acidity and freshness.

Avondale’s owner, Johnathan Grieve, says “We’re tremendously excited about this new creation. All the threads that represent Avondale at its most excellent are evident here: the influence of the stars; a handcrafted style; limited volume; and, the use of naturally organic processes.”

The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships is a niche competition attracting some of the biggest names in the world of sparkling wines. Organised by Tom Stevenson, the world’s foremost authority on Champagne and judged by him along with Essi Avellan MW and Dr Tony Jordan, it is the first and only terroir-driven competition judged exclusively by internationally renowned Champagne & Sparkling Wine experts. Open to effervescing wines of every style produced anywhere on the planet, all wines entered into the CSWWC are judged blind and evaluated strictly within the context of their origin and style.

Avondale’s Johnathan Grieve says “it was a great experience being part of this prestigious international competition, bench marking our Armilla both in a national context as well as internationally”.

Avondale is a 300 year old, family-run farm that is situated on Lustigan Road, Klein Drakenstein, Paarl – on the slopes of the Klein Drakenstein Mountains. For more information, visit www.avondalewine.co.za; phone 021 863 1976; follow on Twitter @AvondaleWine; or, visit www.facebook.com/AvondaleWines. The Avondale Tasting Gallery is open from Monday through to Saturday from 10h00 to 16h00. Learn more from Johnathan Grieve’s blog at www.biologicwine.co.za