Absa Vintage Pinotage Awards of Excellence 2024: Showcasing the Aging Potential of South African Pinotage

Stellenbosch, 12 June 2024, – The prestigious Absa Vintage Awards, hosted by the Pinotage Association, has once again shone a spotlight on the unique aging potential of Pinotage wines. This competition stands out as the only one in South Africa dedicated exclusively to this varietal, offering an unparalleled platform for showcasing the excellence of aged Pinotage wines.

A Unique Celebration of Pinotage

What makes the Absa Vintage Awards distinct are several key factors. Firstly, Pinotage is the sole varietal featured, ensuring a focused celebration of this iconic South African grape. It is also the only competition in the country dedicated to highlighting the aging potential of Pinotage. Moreover, this competition is judged exclusively by the esteemed Cape Wine Masters, adding a layer of prestige and expertise to the evaluation process.

The 2024 competition saw an impressive entry of over 38 exceptional wines, reflecting the growing enthusiasm among producers to showcase their aged Pinotage. The judges faced a challenging task in assessing the remarkable quality of these wines, each presenting unique characteristics and exceptional aging potential.

Bennie Howard, Cape Wine Master and Panel Chair, remarked on the exceptional quality of entries: “This year’s competition has reinforced the position of Pinotage as a symbol of South African viticulture. The wines showcased a remarkable range of styles, reflecting both the heritage and innovation within the industry.”

Vintage Highlights

The judges provided insightful comments on the various vintages entered:

• 2014 Vintage: Showcased good expressive fruit, diverse styles, and overall excellent quality. Wines were fresh, youthful, with deep dark colours and good integration of wood, displaying excellent use of oak. These wines have further aging potential, up to another 10 years.
• 2013 Vintage: Displayed lovely fresh and youthful wines with elegance, balance, and persistent quality.
• 2012 Vintage: Excited the judges with high quality, consistent, and extraordinarily fresh wines. Very attractive with lots of potential for further aging.
• 2011 Vintage: Presented more mellow wines with mature tannins, seamless balance, and excellent fruit.
• 2010 Vintage: Showed powerful and bold wines with great structure, freshness, and youthfulness.
• 2009 Vintage: An outstanding vintage with opulent wines, optimal ripeness, lovely fruit, and harmonious balance, still showing maturing potential.
• 2008 Vintage: Exhibited bright ruby colours, excellent structure, great length, complexity, and elegance.
• 2001 Vintage: Dark ruby, mellow, generous, and bold. Youthfulness impresses, attractive, smooth, and delicious.
• 1997 Vintage: Youthful, complex, balanced, and elegant wines, soft and smooth, a classy vintage.

Award-Winning Wines

The winning wines of the Absa Vintage Awards 2024 are a testament to the exceptional quality and aging potential of South African Pinotage. The detailed results and accolades was officially announced at the awards ceremony held at Vergenoegd Low Wine Estate.

“This is a showcase of truly fine wines. The wines presented speak for themselves and are exceptional. The judges, all Cape Wine Masters, are experts in judging older wines. They have provided a comprehensive evaluation of this category, ensuring it continues to be a respected benchmark of quality in the industry,” Beyers Truter, Chairman of the Pinotage Association.

The wines receiving 90 plus points from the judging panel are :

Producer Name	Vintage	Description	WO
Beeslaar Wines	2013	Beeslaar Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Beeslaar Wines	2012	Beeslaar Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Bellingham	2010	Bellingham The Bernard Series Bush Vine Pinotage	Coastal
Beyerskloof Wines	2014	Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Beyerskloof Wines	2012	Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Beyerskloof Wines	2010	Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Beyerskloof Wines	2013	Beyerskloof Pinotage	Western Cape
Beyerskloof Wines	2011	Beyerskloof Pinotage	Western Cape
Beyerskloof Wines	2011	Beyerskloof Pinotage Reserve	Stellenbosch
Beyerskloof Wines	2001	Beyerskloof Pinotage Reserve	Stellenbosch
Darling Cellars	2012	Darling Cellars Premium Pinotage	Darling
Fairview	2009	Fairview Primo Pinotage	Coastal
Flagstone Winery	2008	Flagstone Writer’s Block Pinotage	Breedekloof
Grangehurst Winery	2009	Grangehurst Pinotage 350 Celebration Vintage	Stellenbosch
Grangehurst Winery	2007	Grangehurst Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Grangehurst Winery	2001	Grangehurst Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Grangehurst Winery	1997	Grangehurst Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Groot Constantia Wine Estate	2013	Groot Constantia Pinotage	Constantia
Kanonkop Wine Estate	2014	Kanonkop Pinotage	Simonsberg/Stellenbosch
Môreson	2008	Môreson Pinotage	Coastal
Neil Ellis Wines	2012	Neil Ellis Vineyard Selection Pinotage	Jonkershoekvallei
Rijk’s Cellar	2014	Rijk’s Reserve Pinotage	Tulbagh
Simonsig Wines	2014	Simonsig Redhill Pinotage	Stellenbosch
Vondeling Wines	2014	Bowwood Pinotage	Voor Paardeberg
Wildekrans Wine Estate	2011	Wildekrans Pinotage	Botrivier
Windmeul Kelder	2012	Windmeul Reserve Pinotage	Paarl

About the Absa Vintage Awards

The Absa Vintage Awards is an annual wine competition that celebrates the aging potential of Pinotage, South Africa’s signature grape variety. Judged exclusively by Cape Wine Masters, the competition ensures the highest standards of evaluation and recognition.  Wines entered must be 10 years and older.

Absa is a proud sponsor and partner of the Pinotage Association for the past 27 years because of the visionaries, winemakers and cellar masters that stories matter to the advancement of the Agriculture sector, say Abrie Rautenbach Executive Agribusiness.

For further information, interviews, or high-resolution images, please contact: Belinda Jacobs | brand@pinotage.co.za | 0798799705 | pinotage.co.za