KWV has made history by seizing the most double gold and gold medals ever won by a single producer at the Veritas Awards, South Africa’s oldest and most prestigious wine competition.

The winners were announced on Saturday, October 8, at a gala dinner hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The Paarl-based icon of the South African wine and brandy industry re-wrote the record books when it received a remarkable five double gold and nine gold medals among the overall 37 medals it collected in the competition. Significantly, the results highlight strength across all categories and price points among the company’s diverse portfolio of brands.

Topping the list, KWV won double gold awards for its Cape Classic Tawny Port, 1930 Muscadel LBV, 15 Year Old pot still brandy and no less than two of its wines in the KWV The Mentors range - The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc 2009 and The Mentors Petit Verdot 2009.

Over the past few months alone, KWV The Mentors have featured in virtually every major wine competition, including international events such as this year’s Mundus Vini International Wine Awards in Germany and the Five Nations Wine Challenge, which pits wines from leading wine producers Argentina, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Chile against each other. At the Veritas Awards this year, it was the range to garner the most recognition for KWV, adding 13 medals to the final tally.

The sweeping achievements are the result of a disciplined strategy in the ascendancy of KWV as a world-class South African producer, which is bearing fruit.

“Three years ago we set ourselves a goal to be the most successful exhibitor at Veritas and are delighted to have been able to deliver on that goal this year,” declared KWV chief winemaker Richard Rowe. He said the outstanding achievement was a credit to the wine and brandy teams who had worked hard to take KWV wines and brandy to a new level. “The stylistic awareness and finessing of our wine making is to a large extent a major contributing factor to our Veritas success, and it is often the stylistic subtleties that differentiate between Bronze and Double Gold medals.  

“We will be getting the winemakers together over the next few weeks to work through these fantastic results and to redefine our future wine making goals; we must maintain the momentum. As you can imagine, a result like this has made a major impression on our young winemaking team - the energy around here at the moment is contagious,” he said.

The KWV wines and brandies were among 1 739 entrants examined by a team of more than 100 local judges and nine international wine and brandy experts. Just ten top wine and brandy cellars laid claim to more than half of this year’s Veritas Awards double gold medals.

With KWV’s brandy division claiming a host of medals – including four golds along with the double gold medal, and particularly its win of seven medals from seven entries - the exuberant sentiments were shared.  “With these results our brandies show real consistency in excellence and quality across the entire range, that together with its awards in the wine and fortified categories, highlight KWV's superb quality over a diverse range of products,”  Kobus Gelderbloem, Chief Brandy Master of KWV SA and Laborie, said.  

“All credit must go to the wonderful and dedicated teams within the vineyards right through to the blending cellar,” he added.

Of the total, 42 (2.41%) double gold, 158 (9.08%) gold, 609 (35.0%) silver and 619 (35.6%) bronze medals were awarded.

The remaining KWV winners were:

Golds: KWV The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon 2009; KWV The Mentors Canvas 2009; KWV Reserve Collection Chardonnay 2010; Cathedral Cellar 2009 Triptych; KWV Hanepoot Jeripigo 1973; Imoya Brandy; KWV 10YO Brandy; KWV 20YO Brandy; and, Laborie Alambic Brandy.
Silver: KWV The Mentors Pinotage 2009; KWV The Mentors Shiraz 2009; KWV The Mentors Grenache Blanc 2010; Cathedral Cellar Sauvignon Blanc 2010; Cathedral Cellar Shiraz 2009; Cathedral Cellar Chardonnay 2010; KWV Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2010; Laborie Limited Collection Chardonnay 2010; Laborie Jean Taillefert Shiraz 2009; KWV 3YO Brandy; and, KWV 5YO Brandy.
Bronze: KWV The Mentors Chardonnay 2010; KWV The Mentors Semillon 2009; KWV The Mentors Semillon 2010; KWV The Mentors Viognier 2010; KWV The Mentors Orchestra2008; KWV The Mentors Orchestra 2009; Cathedral Cellar Chenin Blanc 2009; Cathedral Cellar Triptych 2008; Cathedral Cellar Pinotage 2009; Laborie Brut 2008; Laborie Limited Collection Shiraz 2008; and, Laborie Limited Collection Shiraz 2009.