In a closely-contested challenge, the judging panel of the 2024 FNB Sauvignon Blanc SA Top 10 awarded no less than seven wards, six districts, and three regions.
The winners were announced on Wednesday 16 October at De Meye Wine Estate in Stellenbosch,
According to the judges, out of the 160 wines entered by 91 producers, the 2023 vintage stood out with seven winners in the Top 10. Six of the winning wines are wooded, a style that has increasingly been making its mark over the 18 years of this annual competition.
The Top 10 features five winners from the Coastal Region, four from the Cape South Coast, and one from the Breede River Valley. A total of seven wards boast winners, representing six districts, with two winners each for Durbanville, Cape Agulhas and Stellenbosch, and one each from Elgin, Sunday’s Glen (Walker Bay), and Scherpenheuvel (Worcester).
This year’s Top 10 from the Overberg are:. Cederberg Wines Ghost Corner Wild Ferment 2023 (wooded) (Elim, Cape Agulhas);. Hermanuspietersfontein Kat met die Houtbeen Sauvignon Blanc 2022 (wooded) (Sunday’s Glen, Walker Bay);. Iona Elgin Highlands Sauvignon Blanc 2024 (Elgin);. Lomond Sugarbush Sauvignon Blanc 2023 (Cape Agulhas).
The judging panel was convened by Dr Winifred Bowman and featured judges Johann Fourie, head winemaker at Benguela Cove; Dr Carien Coetzee, oenologist at Basic Wine; Morgan Steyn, winemaker at De Grendel Wines, and Mahalia Kotjane, owner-winemaker of Three Quarter Wines.
