Following a trend of local and international success, Saronsberg’s Provenance Shiraz 2007 has taken 1st place in the WINE Magazine’s annual Global Trader Shiraz Challenge.
The competition pitted 184 entries from all over South Africa against each other for the title of Best Shiraz, and the Provenance’s outstanding score of four and a half stars proved enough to secure the honour. The award follows closely on the heels of Golds in the recent Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and the Veritas Awards 2009.
Dewaldt Heyns, winemaker at Saronsberg, is especially pleased with the result.
‘As a farm that specialises in Shiraz, we are committed to expressing the various potentials of the variety. We have always contended that it is possible to make two stylistically opposite wines of equal quality, and with our Saronsberg Shiraz having always performed so well it is very satisfying to see our Provenance Shiraz now doing the same.’
The stylistic differences between the two wines begin in vineyard selection, with grapes from the warm dry mid-valley of Tulbagh destined for the Saronsberg Shiraz, and vineyards on the cooler slopes of Saronsberg Mountain producing the Provenance fruit. Using a small portion of non-estate grapes to highlight these variances in terroir, Heyns and his team create two distinctly different but multi-award winning styles: the full-bodied, rich and robust Saronsberg Shiraz, and the elegantly fruit-driven Provenance Shiraz that judges this year selected as the top example in the country.
The Provenance Shiraz 2007 can be tasted at one of the informative, seated wine tastings of the top scoring wines from the 2010 Global Trader Shiraz Challenge, to be hosted by WINE magazine. For more information visit www.winemag.co.za
