Durbanville Wine Valley Celebrates A Record Year Of Achievements

Wine aficionados agree – if the bottle says Durbanville, then it’s world-class.

This is the conclusion from a record local and international highs that have set the tone for a range of upcoming developments.

The past 12 months has shown the excellence of Durbanville wines hailed not only at the highest levels of some of the world’s most authoritative competitions, but also across vintages and varieties. “It has truly been a year in which the world of wine has welcomed Durbanville as one of the world’s best,” says Natasha de Villiers, manager of the Durbanville Wine Valley organisation.

Locally, new attractions have also ensured it remains front of mind with visitors to the Cape. These included a new self-guided tour at Durbanville Hills; and new tasting facilities at Meerendal and for De Grendel, on Table Mountain.

Furthermore, the Durbanville Harvest Festival takes place from March 1-3; and the Sauvignon Soiree – a pinnacle event to celebrate International Day of Sauvignon Blanc – on May 3 (further details below).

“Sadly, this was also a year of remembrance,” she adds. “In the passing of Durbanville Hills’ cellarmaster Martin Moore, we lost a beloved member and staunch ambassador of the Durbanville Wine Family.”

New self-guided tour at Durbanville Hills

A champion of world-class quality

A close look at Durbanville Wine Valley’s record of achievements reveals the deep gold that has its primary source in its exceptional terroir.

Starting with the 2023 FNB Sauvignon Blanc SA Top 10 held earlier this year, the region featured strongly once again. This year however, there was a twist. Wines that generally excite the judges have most often been those from the current vintage, but for 2023 accolades uncharacteristically included Durbanville wines from the previous vintage. This is a testament to the aging potential of Durbanville Sauvignon Blancs, also helping to dispel the stereotype of "current vintage is best".

Durbanville’s older vintage white wines also stood out at the Trophy Wine Show with Bloemendal taking the region’s top honours.

At the Michelangelo International Wine and Spirit Awards this year, Durbanville increased its achievements of 11 Double Golds from seven producers from the previous year’s 8 Double Golds between three producers.

At the Veritas Awards, Durbanville was awarded more Double Gold winners than previously. Interesting to see however, was the variety of white and red wines from Durbanville winning Double Gold. In 2022, there were three Sauvignon blancs, two Syrahs and one Pinot noir. This year among the white wines were two Sauvignon blancs and one DG for Semillon and Chenin blanc, and among the reds, two for Pinotage and one for Syrah and Pinot noir.

Cross-varietal excellence was also recognised at the recent unveiling of Platter’s SA Wine Guide with Durbanville wines receiving the pinnacle five star-rating across cultivars and styles, not only for Sauvignon Blanc, but in categories for Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Red Blends/Cape Bordeaux.

New tasting facilities at Meerendal

International success

This same trend echoed in the region’s international performance. Durbanville Sauvignon Blanc was the standout wine internationally, but cool climate diversity was shown with Durbanville reds excelling equally well at the International Wine Challenge and Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.

At the Decanter Wine Awards, Durbanville mustered a silver as its highest award in 2022. This year, Diemersdal received Platinum. They certainly weren’t alone and multiple Durbanville producers shared this limelight too.

Further enhancing its status, Durbanville’s prominence was also affirmed via the key role it played during the past year in numerous major events.

Among the most prominent was Durbanville’s co-hosting of the Concours Mondial du Sauvignon in March. This was the first time in history the Sauvignon blanc-focussed championship was held outside Europe, and part of the event included a visit to South Africa’s leading Sauvignon blanc region.

It comprised of over 50 specialist wine tasters, of which the majority were foreigners who had never been to the country before. Part of their experience, curated by Sauvignon Blanc SA, included official functions hosted at Durbanville Hills and Diemersdal and attended by all Durbanville producers.

In August, Durbanvillle also hosted a visit by judges of the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) at Klein Roosboom; Veritas judges at De Grendel and Maastricht in September, and; and, Masters of Wine on an official visit to Cape Town.

Durbanville wineries also took the message of regional excellence north. In September, they hosted a group tasting, themed event titled Urban Odyssey in Johannesburg. The setting was headline Sandton restaurant and bar Zioux, conceived by chef entrepreneur David Higgs and the team behind the award- winning Marble and Saint restaurants.

New tasting facilities for De Grendel, on Table Mountain

Book now for these events

The Durbanville Harvest Festival takes place at D’Aria from March 1-3, from 10:00 to 18:00 daily.
The Sauvignon Soiree takes place at Nitida’s Cassia Restaurant on May 3 from 17:00 to 20:00.

Durbanville wines are available for sale directly from the wineries’ websites.

For more information about Durbanville Wine Valley, visit www.durbanvillewine.co.za or email info@durbanvillewine.co.za.

Tag and follow Durbanville Wine Valley to get the latest news about events. Use @DurbanvilleWine on Twitter and Facebook, Instagram.

Issued by: ROUX REKLAME
Pictures: SUPPLIED