The March 2009 edition of Decanter Wine Magazine carries a feature on South African Rhone style wines recently judged by an independent panel.
The Decanter World Wine Awards 2008 results brought home the fact that SA wines have improved and shall continue to impress. So were people really surprised or even shocked by the fact that we took home 6 International Trophy awards? In order to win at competitions you have to participate and the same applies to monthly wine reviews – if samples are not available for judging, then you can hardly expect a two or three page feature on a country, let alone a particular producer.Â
It would be interesting to see the effect of this feature in terms of units sold in the UK and elsewhere. Continual marketing and product awareness leads to brand recognition and hence increased sales.
A total of 137 wines were tasted with 5Â wines receiving a 
Decanter Award; 15 wines were Highly recommended; 74 were Recommended and a further 40 were rated Fair. The best value wine selected was the Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2007 in the £6.99 – £7.99 category. The five Decanter Award wines were Allee Bleue Shiraz 2007, Guardian Peak SMG 2006, Hartenberg The Stork Shiraz 2005, Spice Route Chakalaka 2007 and Saronsberg Full Circle 2006.Â
Visit www.decanter.com for the full feature and all the results
