The 2009 Diners Club Winemaker of the
Year is Coenie Snyman for his 2007 Rust en Vrede Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fltr: Linda Manzini (MD, Diners Club SA), Coenie Snyman, Jane
Ledger (Regional Manager - Western Cape, Diners Club SA)
Second in line is Werner Engelbrecht for his 2007 Waterkloof
Circumstance Cabernet Sauvignon, with Johan Joubert in third
place for his Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2007.
Rust en Vrede, established in 1694 by the then Governor of the
Cape, Willem Adrian van der Stel, is one of the Cape’s
oldest estates, and in 30 years has had only two appointed winemakers.
Specialising in the production of red wine only, Rust en Vrede
is one of South Africa’s premium estates. Their full bodied
and complex wines reflect the uniqueness of the Stellenbosch
terroir. Coenie Snyman joined the team in 2006 and says he has
a 15 year plan, but his main focus is on improving the quality
and style of his wine. Coenie says he doesn’t think he’s
a perfectionist, but rather describes himself as a conformist
– “you do it right, or you do it right”.
The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon was the first vintage Coenie made
at Rust en Vrede. “ I was just getting to know the vineyards,
so I did nothing experimental during the winemaking process.
I just made a normal, well-balanced, structured wine”.
Judges described the wine as being deep and rich with excellent
potential. A decidedly civilized young cabernet with a great
future.
Coenie received his sought-after award at a prestigious ceremony
held at maze restaurant in the One&Only resort, the recipient
of the ‘Best Winelist’ at the recent Diners Club
Winelist awards.
The sheer volume of entries into this year’s Diners Club
Winemaker of the Year Awards, instituted in 1981, meant that
a screening process had to take place prior to the main judging.
Surprisingly, still a hefty 64 wines remained, highlighting
to Diners Club and the judges, the continued interest in the
award.
The wine screening was undertaken by Gyles Webb of Thelema,
a two time winner of the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Award
and the winner of the previous Cabernet Sauvignon category in
1996. Gyles was assisted by Marc Friederich, owner of the highly
successful Marc’s restaurant in Paarl and Johan Fourie,
senior winemaker at KWV.
Diners Club International was honoured to have John Avery from
Avery’s of Bristol as this year’s international
judge. An expert in many wines, in particular Cabernet Sauvignon,
John also has vast knowledge of South African wines having visited
here many times. The South African judges come with equally
high credentials, being selected for their expertise in different
areas of the wine industry. Carrie Adams of Norman Goodfellows
in Johannesburg and Margaret Fry, a Cape Wine Master. KWV Winemaker
Nomonde Kubheka, and Wade Bales of the Diners Club Wine Society.
Chairing the proceedings was the irrepressible Dave Hughes.
Fostering young blood in the judging panel was Associate Judge
Tobias Brauweiler, a sommelier at the Grande Roche Hotel, where
the judging took place.
At the end of the first round of judging the auditors determined
that six wines had all scored between eighteen and nineteen
points on the Davis twenty point scale. An outstanding result.
After six fresh samples were prepared, the judges arrived at
a clear winner.
Overall the judges were highly appreciative of the quality of
wines entered, finding no winemaking faults of any kind, resulting
in most of the wines being at the top end of the scale. International
judge John Avery was pleasantly surprised by the ripe berry
fruit qualities and that South African winemakers seem to focus
on well balanced wines with good fruit characters rather than
the big blockbusters of a few years back.
“ We
were extremely pleased about the overwhelming response and support
we once again received this year. We believe the winners had
tough competition and the quality of all the wines was superb.
The judges really had their work cut out for them this year.
We wish both winners hearty congratulations from Diners Club”
said regional manager of the Western Cape, Jane Ledger.
The next three categories for the annual Diners Club Winemaker
of the Year are:
Fltr: Wade Bales, Tobias Brauweiler, Nomonde Khubeka,
Dave Hughes, Carrie Adams, John Avery and Margaret Fry.
2009 Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year
The 2009 title goes to Clayton Reabow
from Môreson for his 2007 Premium Chardonnay. Yet another
Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year hails from the Franschhoek
valley.
Fltr: Linda Manzini (MD, Diners Club SA), Clayton Reabow,
Jane Ledger (Regional Manager - Western Cape, Diners Club SA)
In second place was Pieter de Wet for his 2009 De Wetshof
Estate Limestone Hill Chardonnay, and in third place Nadia Newton
Johnson’s 2008 Newton Johnson Chardonnay.
Môreson has been described as a little slice of magic
in the Franschhoek valley, where their wine is their love, their
passion and their magic. Môreson put everything they have
into making their wines spectacular, and believe that magic
is what happens when all their hard work, passion, love, laughter,
disappointments, tears, frustration and long hours combine to
form an exquisite bottle of Môreson wine.
Clayton has a B.Sc Agriculture, in Oenology and Viticulture,
at the University of Stellenbosch (2000 to 2004). From 2005
to 2007 he worked locally for Grande Provence, Distell, Laroche
L'Avenir and Vrede en Lust and internationally in Bordeaux,
France (at Chateau de Fleur du Bouard in Lalande Pomerol) and
along the Mosel River (in Zell). He joined Môreson, as
winemaker, in May 2007.
Clayton’s winemaking style is intelligent, focused and
passionate. He creates spectacular wines; all with a huge amount
of depth and, that trademark Môreson characteristic, balance.
The Diners Club award comes on top of his 2007 Premium Chardonnay
being awarded gold at the 2009 Chardonnay du Monde Competition,
and 4 stars in the John Platter Guide.
The grapes were hand picked in small batches of 4 tons each,
and whole bunch pressed in the early morning to ensure freshness
and top quality juice; no sulphur was used. After 24 hours,
the settled juice was transferred to new oak barrels for fermentation.
Natural fermentation was used on 50% of the juice, and the rest
was inoculated. The wine spent a total of 12 months in oak,
on its primary lees, with batonnage every 7 days. The final
blend consists of 100% Chardonnay with 90% being fermented,
and matured, in new French and Hungarian oak and the balance
being fermented and left sur lie in tank.
This lively wine shows green and gold hues. Packed with classic
Chardonnay fruit, it entices the senses with layers of chestnuts,
vanilla and underlying grapefruit and lemon zest. A lengthy
barrel-maturation on gross lees has allowed for maximum oak
and fruit integration; providing a firm palate that gives backbone
to concentrated fruit and the richness of the wine. The wine
will develop exceptionally in bottle, leading to new nuances
and depth for years to come.
The Young Winemaker category was introduced in 2001 to recognize
rising young talent. A remarkable reflection on the high quality
being produced by our youthful winemakers is that, of the 71
entries, not one was rejected for any kind of fault whatsoever!
The judging was done by the same panel that judged the Winemaker
of the Year. The entries included a fair spread of single varieties
such as chenin blanc, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, viognier,
and a couple of blends where occasionally some of the fruitier
varieties played a part.
Six wines came out on top and were then re-judged and, as with
the main competition, a clear winner emerged. Of the final six,
four were chardonnays, one a multiple blend and one an extremely
fine viognier.
Judges described this winning wine as elegant yet substantial
in the mouth with a clean and fragrant finish. It develops with
every sip making it the ideal wine to drink now or in the near
future.
Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year category for 2010 is
Dry Red (unfortified).
Recap of the 2008 Diners Club Winemaker
of the Year
WINE magazine announces on behalf of Diners
Club International that the2008 Diners Club Winemaker of the
Year competition has been declared invalid and the prize withdrawn.
This follows the decision by Duncan Savage of Cape Point Vineyards
to step down as this year’s winner. A condition of entry
was that the winning winery should have 250 twelve-bottle cases
for sale in South Africa on announcement of the result and it
subsequently emerged that Cape Point was unable to comply with
this. After due consideration, it was decided not to appoint
a replacement winner.
Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Award
Winners
YEAR
WINE CATEGORY
WINNER
PRODUCER
WINE
1981
Innovative Wines
W Finlayson
Blaauwklippen
Zinfandel 1980
1982
Cabernet Sauvignon
W Finlayson
Blaauwklippen
Cabernet Sauvignon 1980
1983
Rhine Riesling
G Brözel
Nederburg
Rhine Riesling 1983
1984
Sauvignon Blanc
M Rossouw
Eersterivier
Sauvignon Blanc 1984
1985
Gewürztraminer
G Brözel
Nederburg
Gewürztraminer 1985
1986
Wood-aged White
S Back
Backsberg
Chardonnay 1985
1987
Pinotage
B Truter
Kanonkop
Pinotage 1985
1988
Muscadel
W Linde
Nuy
White Muscadel 1985
1989
Pinot Noir
P Finlayson
Hamilton Russell
Pinot Noir 1986
1990
Special Late Harvest
A Bruwer
Bon Courage
Gewürztraminer SLH 1989
1991
Cape Riesling
W Linde
Nuy
Riesling 1991
1992
Merlot
J Daneel
Buitenverwachting
Reserve Merlot 1991
1993
Chardonnay
D De Wet
De Wetshof
Finesse Chardonnay 1993
1994
Bordeaux-style Red
G Webb
Thelema
Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 1992
1995
Cap Classique
N Krone
Twee Jonge Gezellen
Krone Borealis Brut 1993
1996
Cabernet Sauvignon
G Webb
Thelema
Cabernet Sauvignon 1994
1997
Sauvignon Blanc
J Grier
Villiera
Bush Vine Sauvignon Blanc 1997
1998
Shiraz
D Malan
Allesverloren
Shiraz 1996
1999
Cape Blend
R Wiid
Hazendal
Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 1998
2000
Port
P de Villiers
Landskroon
Port 1997
2001
Chenin Blanc
E Hall
Kanu
Chenin Blanc 2001
2002
Pinotage
D De Waal
De Waal
Top of the Hill 2001
2003
Semillon
J Loubser
Steenberg
Constantia Uitsig Reserve Semillon
2002
2004
Cap Classique
P Ferreira
Graham Beck
Brut Blanc de Blancs 1999
2005
Merlot
C Schultz
Hartenberg
Merlot 2004
2006
Chardonnay
G Mocke
Chamonix
Sterhuis Chardonnay 2004
2007
Shiraz
M Kent
Boekenhoutskloof
Syrah 2005
2008
Dry White Blends
Not awarded
n/a
n/a
Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year Award Winners
