SA Terroir Wine Awards winners to take Mauritius by storm
· 3 min read
The 18 National Winners of the 2018 Novare SA Terroir Wine Awards will be showcased at tastings to be held on the island of Mauritius next week. The organisers announced that this would become an annual event.
The first ever tasting of top South African wines in Mauritius is the brainchild of the founder of Novare Holdings, Derrick Roper. With Adansonia Holdings, Novare is jointly sponsoring the 8th annual Cycle Tour Ile Maurice, a mountain bike ride – not a race – over four days around the scenic Mauritius coastline.
Roper said that this was the ideal opportunity for his company to also show the award-winning wines that they are promoting in South Africa. “This is an extension of our view that South Africa makes phenomenally good wines, by giving the participants in our cycle race and local food and beverage managers, sommeliers and restaurateurs the opportunity to taste them.”
Boela Gerber from Groot Constantia Estate, which clinched two trophies at the 2018 SA Terroir competition, will be presenting the 18 wines together with Christo Pienaar from Nuy Winery, who is the chairman of the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWS) which presents the Awards from 2019.
Pienaar said, “We are very excited to share these top quality wines from specific terroirs in our winelands with such an important gathering of guests.” He believes that this can be the start of a concerted effort to sell more quality wine to the ever growing tourist market in Mauritius.
The wine tasting is called Meet and Greet and will be held on Saturday 8 June 2019 at the Canonnier Beachcomber Golf Resort and Spa Hotel.
The four-day cycle ride of 270 km around Mauritius will take place on Friday 7 June 2019 to Monday 10 June.
The list of wines that will be tasted is as follows:
WINE | NATIONAL Winner |
Alto Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 | Top Cabernet Sauvignon |
Anura Reserve Malbec 2016 | Top Malbec |
Babylonstoren Viognier 2017 | Top Viognier |
Bon Courage Noble Late Harvest 2016 | Top Noble Late Harvest |
D’Aria The Following Sauvignon Blanc 2016 | Top Sauvignon Blanc |
De Wetshof Nature in Concert Pinot Noir 2017 | Top Pinot Noir |
Flagstone Writer’s Block Pinotage 2016 | Top Pinotage |
Ghost Corner Bowline 2016 | Top White Blend |
Glen Carlou Chardonnay 2017 | Top Chardonnay |
Groot Constantia Grand Constance 2015 | Top Natural Sweet |
Groot Constantia Cape Ruby 2016 | Top Port style |
Jordan Black Magic Merlot 2015 | Top Merlot |
Lynx Grenache 2017 | Top Grenache |
Neethlingshof Gewürztraminer 2018 | Top Gewürztraminer |
Nuy Red Muscadel 2010 | Top Muscadel |
Rietvallei JMB Cabernet Franc 2015 | Top Cabernet Franc |
Vrede en Lust Early Mist Riesling 2017 | Top Riesling |
Wildekrans Shiraz Barrel Select Reserve 2014 | Top Shiraz |
Entries for the 2019 Terroir competition close on 11 June and the delivery dates for samples for judging are 13 -14 June. The judging takes place on 2 - 5 July and the awards function is presented by Novare on 1 August at Anura Wine Estate.
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