WESTERN CAPE – A pinotage by Wellington Cellar has been crowned South Africa’s best young wine of 2026, earning the cellar its third prestigious Genl Smuts Trophy at the SA Young Wine Show awards.

The event took place on Friday 21 August at the Elsenburg Agricultural College in Stellenbosch.

The wooded pinotage was also named best pinotage at the national competition, making it only the fourth Pinotage in the past 20 years to claim the coveted overall title.

Wellington Cellars previously won the Genl Smuts Trophy with a pinotage in 2018 and a cabernet sauvignon in 2023. The latest victory came as the trophy was awarded for the 75th time since the competition was established 194 years ago.

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New wine region

The pinotage’s success follows victories by Wamakersvallei Cellar in 2007 and Badsberg Cellar in 2016. Wamakersvallei was later amalgamated with Wellington Wines in 2013.

KWV claimed the Pietman Hugo Trophy for the third time after scoring the most points with its five best entries. The winery also secured three national trophies for its wooded sauvignon blanc, wooded petit verdot and wooded petit verdot/pinotage/carignan blend.

Montagu Winery was another standout performer, winning national champion titles for its red jerepigo dessert wine and red muscadel/white muscadel blend.

The 2026 show also marked the historic inclusion of Cape Town as a new wine region. The region, which includes Durbanville, Constantia, Hout Bay and Philadelphia, was previously part of Stellenbosch in the competition.

Cape Town made an immediate impact with two national champions, four class winners and five gold medals.

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Quality praised

Paarl was the competition’s strongest-performing region, collecting seven national trophies, followed by the Klein Karoo with three. Breedekloof/Worcester, Cape Town and Robertson each secured two, while Stellenbosch won one.

A total of 1 387 wines were judged by 88 specialist judges on 13 panels over five days at Nederburg Wines in Paarl.

Despite a challenging harvest, judges praised the overall quality of the young wines, highlighting strong cultivar concentration, balanced acidity and sugars, and excellent colour development in reds.

SA Young Wine Show chairperson Christo Pienaar said the competition remains an important first indication of the quality and potential of each new vintage, while providing recognition for winemakers and viticulturists and opportunities for emerging talent.

In total, 52 wines achieved class-winner status and 117 received gold medals.

The winning Wellington Wines and KWV winemakers will each receive a sponsored six-day overseas trip through SANWSA’s partnership with Paarl-based industry supplier Porex.

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