The awards function was held at 96 Winery Road Restaurant just outside Somerset West on Thursday 15th October, the winner of the 2020 Malbec Challenge was announced. First-time entry Mount Vernon 2015 Malbec was the highest scoring wine in the line-up of 21 wines. There were 11 gold medals awarded, including Mount Vernon, well up on the five in 2019, a recognition of the quality of the wines and growing expertise of the winemakers.
The Malbec Challenge was organised by Celia Gilloway of Events by Celia.
“Once again, judging was done blind (no origin or vintage was given) by a panel of five tasters using the international 100 point system and took place on September 29th. The panel, chaired by Cape Wine Master Christine Rudman, consisted of Anton Swarts, Cape Wine Master and senior winemaker at Spier in Stellenbosch; award-winning wine and food writer Malu Lambert, all of whom had judged in 2019; Samarie Smith, ex-editor of Versnit in Die Burger and currently PR consultant for the Cape Winemakers Guild; and Johannesburg-based sommelier Tinashe Nyamudoka, founder of Kumusha Wines.”
The competition has a generous sponsor, RX South Africa, agents of Tonnellerie de Mercurey wine barrels, an internationally respected family-owned specialist business based in France.
Once again we entered the Malbec Challenge this year, and we are so proud to announce that we got a silver for our Le Pommier Jonathan’s Malbec 2019! A big thank you to our vineyard & cellar team, without you this would not have been possible.
Our Le Pommier Jonathan’s Malbec 2019 has perfume notes on the nose, give way to rich mulberry and dark cherry tones on the palate. The wine shows full but finely structured tannins, that although restrained now will reward well with a couple of years of bottle maturation.
Why the name Jonathan? Jonathan was Le Pommier’s resident Bull with a particular attitude; he was also quite mischievous. One year Jonathan broke into this vineyard and consumed most of the Malbec harvest illustrating his excellent taste. With a small amount of Malbec left, the first limited edition was produced from the previous vintage.
Enjoy with roast beef, venison, slow-roasted leg of lamb, Peking duck or a good potjie. On Le Pommier’s menu, we suggest our Mushroom and Camembert tartlet with cranberry reduction and the Beef fillet.
Our Malbec 2019 is a 100% Malbec blend. The grapes are grown and harvest on the farm. Le Pommier Jonathan’s Malbec 2019 is available at R160 per bottle and is sold in a case of 6 bottles. Our Malbec is available on our online wine shop or at our wine tasting area. Pop in for one of our woodfire oven pizzas and a bottle of our beautiful award-winning wine.
The RESULTS are online with all the award Winners.
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