Its etymology is Greek, stemming from the word meaning “glory” and adopted into general English usage from the early 1800’s. Nonetheless it is still associated with being worthy of praise or honour – and there is absolutely no doubt that there is huge kudos attached to being announced the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year.

That honour went to Spier’s senior winemaker Johan Jordaan for the Spier Creative Block 5 2009. It’s certainly the most prestigious title on the South African wine scene – and it’s also one of the most lucrative as it carries with it a prize package of R50 000 in cash as well as a return airline ticket to any wine destination in the world.

Jordaan, who only qualified as a winemaker in 2002, was delighted by his win, paying tribute to his Spier colleagues saying the team’s contribution was invaluable in ensuring that the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec blend was the best of the 110 entries the judging panel tasted.

The Diners Club Winemaker of the Year was initiated 30 years ago and it’s a tribute to the status of the competition that Diners Club has stayed on board as sponsors for the duration. There are few competitions and sponsors which can match that track record on the local wine scene.

Chairman of the judging panel Dave Hughes said at the awards ceremony in Paarl that the Spier Creative Block 5 was a clear winner – but that the overall standard of the 110 entries received had been “exceptionally high”. There were nine wines lined up against each other in the final taste off, with two former winners among them. But if there had been a ‘close but no cigar’ award it would have been won hands down by last year’s winner  Bartho Eksteen of the tongue-twisting winery in Walker Bay, Hermanuspietersfontein, as he had two wines among the finalists! Had he repeated his 2010 victory he would have been the first winemaker to do so since Walter Finlayson managed the feat with the first two editions of the competition in 1981 and 1982.

“The fact that both (Winemaker and Young Winemaker) are from the 2009 vintage confirms the excellence of that year for winemaking. It is probably our top vintage of the past 15 years,” Hughes said.

Ten years ago it was decided to also honour up and coming talent by beginning the Young Winemaker of the Year award. Newly elected chairman of the SA Chardonnay Forum, Matthew van Heerden was the 11^th winner, appropriately with a spectacular Chardonnay, the 2009 Uva Mira.

Where the Winemaker of the Year criteria are strict in terms of the category each year, there is more leeway granted those in the Young Winemaker section – those being that the entrant by 30 years or younger and that in alternate years the entry is either white or red. This allows for a huge range of styles to be submitted. With the category being white in 2011, Van Heerden saw off the other 63 entries and in so doing won himself the title and R25 000 cash prize.

Eksteen’s sage words to both winemakers was that this award “will change your life”.

A group of Danish sommeliers and chefs recently visited the winelands – and two of the presentations and tastings which had the most impact for them involved terroir.

DGB’s head winemaker Niel Groenewald cleverly got the Danes to wrap their heads around South Africa’s soil diversity by presenting them with Chenin Blanc and Shiraz from four distinctly different areas.

First up were the white and red wine from Darling, followed by Paarl, Stellenbosch (Bottelary specifically) and finally Elgin. Accompanying each set was a Powerpoint demonstration of the area’s location, courtesy of Google Earth images, prevailing climatic and weather information and, of course, the all important soil information, age of vines and whether bush vine or trellised. Even a novice would have picked up the differences in the wines – but to say the Danes were impressed would be putting it mildly. It was also a very smart demonstration of Chenin Blanc’s potential.

Later the same day Somerset West winery Waterkloof provided a perfect demonstration of how it obtains concentration and intensity in its wines: the wind was buffeting the delegation as it stood in the Sauvignon Blanc vineyard overlooking a whitecap-covered False Bay! With the wind serving as a natural devigorator, low yields are guaranteed.

Farm manager Christaan Loots admitted that when owner Paul Boutinot mentioned that Waterkloof would be farmed biodynamically he had some reservations. Yet listening to his recitation of the benefits no-one was in any doubt of him having come on board – fully!

Loots even introduced the Danes to the five draught horses which work the vineyards. “We sold one of our tractors this year,” Loots proudly said. “Eventually we should have no tractors on the farm. The horses will do all the work.” Then there were the sheep which graze in the vineyards, along with the chickens, the four Jersey calves and the Dexter cow and her calf. Her lactation is vital to Loots’s biodynamic preparations for the vineyards.

He also pointed out the hardware – the rig the Percherons pull which, in real ‘Boer maak n plan’ fashion, was constructed after Loots researched ancient Roman chariots! It’s been modified to incorporate a simple braking system because of the slopes on Waterkloof but Loots reports that it works perfectly.

The impact of these gentler and more natural farming methods was again demonstrated to the Danes. Hands in the soil underneath the vines revealed soft texture, organic material and life forms as well as coolth and improved water retention.

Just the name Roodeberg conjures up images of decades past when the KWV’s fabled red wine was only available to those with a quota. Its legend probably had a lot to do with its relative unobtainability within South Africa’s borders – unless you knew a quota holder who was happy to share.

Roodeberg is the Shiraz-led red blend which now sells up a storm in Sweden and elsewhere which has been available on local retail shelves for nearly a decade now. But there’s a new kid in town in the form of a flagship blend called Dr Charles.

The premium product (it will retail for one less than 200 rand) is a tribute to the man credited with the success of Roodeberg, Dr Charles Niehaus. The good doctor took over the reins at the KWV from Pinotage creator Dr Abraham Izak Perold in 1941. In the late 40’s, Dr Charles made Shiraz the mainstay of his experimental red wine blends which ultimately led to Roodeberg.

As the press release states: “He retired in 1971 having left an indelible mark on the South African wine industry. The torch he first lit has however, been borne ever since in the making of the renowned blend by a string of great winemakers. To this day, Dr Niehaus is remembered for his stern, orderly disposition and big compassionate heart.”

Neil Ellis, one of the KWV winemaking team’s mentors remembered Dr Niehaus – saying he wasn’t one for frippery and foibles. “If he’d been here today he would have told us to get back to work!”

Chief winemaker Richard Rowe said the aim of Dr Charles – and indeed of its larger volume little brother, Roodeberg – was drinkability, fruit purity and fresh juiciness. The blend is half Shiraz with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot and the parcels of fruit which went into its making were specially selected in Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Darling.

Rowe credited the role of grape farmers in this wine, saying everything came down to the quality of the fruit to create the building blocks. “Our growers need to know and buy into the journey we’re on to continue improving our standards and our wines. We can’t do it without them.”

Fifteen years ago there were just two farms which boasted vines in the Elgin valley – Paul Cluver and Oak Valley. Last week’s Elegantly Elgin spring soirée in Cape Town boasted 20 participants, many of them almost unknown to the average consumer.

Almenkerk wine estate has already laid down its marker with a stellar Sauvignon Blanc. In a nod to their Belgian roots, father Joop and winemaking son Joris van Almenkerk called their maiden red Lace. After all, Belgian lace has been highly sought after for hundreds of years and they have faith their red blend has the same commercial appeal. On display for the first time the Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend will only be released in November and is the forerunner of a more affordable range of wines selling from the cellar for around R70.

Elgin is renowned for its cool climate and many producers are using that to best effect. Jacqueline Harris recalled that Paul Cluver jnr wanted to rip out all the Riesling on the farm but his father’s cool head prevailed – and there are now no fewer than four Rieslings in their line-up: the standard Riesling, Close Encounter with its 30-odd grams of residual sugar, Ferricrete Riesling made for Woolworths with around 20g of RS and then the perennial award-winning noble late harvest with sugar levels dangerous for any diabetic! “And we’re planting more Gewürztraminer,” Harris related. “We just can’t keep up with demand.”

Other Riesling producers in the valley include Spioenkop, Ross Gower wines and Sutherland, which has adopted its own identity since Thelema has decided to differentiate its Stellenbosch and Elgin vineyards.

By far the most popular grape variety in the valley remains Sauvignon Blanc. Neil Ellis was one of the pioneers who showed the way with Sauvignon Blanc from Elgin. Andrew Gunn’s Iona established its reputation on the back of this variety more than a decade ago – and its success led to Tokara (and others) establishing vineyards in the area. Cape Orchards, Catherine Marshall, Elgin Ridge, Elgin Valley Vineyards, Elgin Vintners, Glen Erskine, Mofam, Paul Cluver, Oak Valley, Shannon, Elgin Orchards, Paul Wallace, South Hill, Spioenkop, Sutherland, Vrede en Lust, Waterford, William Everson and Winters Drift all boast at least one Sauvignon Blanc.

Also interesting to note is the popularity of Semillon and Viognier – and the deft handling of them – by Elgin producers.

That’s a virtual explosion in grape growing and wine production in the past decade and a half. One wonders what the next 15 years will bring.

• (Elgin Wine Valley Guild members are: Almenkerk, Arumdale, Cape Orchards & Vineyards, Catherine Marshall Wines, Elgin Orchards, Elgin Ridge, Elgin Valley Vintners, Iona, Mofam, Neil Ellis, Oak Valley, Paul Cluver, Ross Gower Wines, Shannon Vineyards, South Hill, Thelema, Tokara, Vrede en Lust and Winters Drift.)

Over the past few years the annual Platter Guide to South African Wines has been silver, bright green, black, cerise pink and this year is banana yellow! The colour of the cover evokes almost as much interest among commentators as its contents…

And content aplenty there is with the 32^nd edition containing more than 7 000 wines from over 900 producers: all tasted, rated and noted. Red Wine of the Year is Chamonix’s 2010 Pinot Noir Reserve while the White Wine of the Year accolade went to a modest dessert wine, the 2009 Badslese from Badsberg.

Prime bragging rights as Winery of the Year – which is purely the Editor’s Choice – went to Franschhoek winery Boekenhoutskloof. It’s a tribute to this quality-focussed cellar’s broad offering that it was also awarded the SuperQuaffer of the Year for its Wolftrap White, a blend of Viognier, Chenin blanc and Grenache blanc.

Furthermore there are 45 wines which achieved the 5 Star full-house – with Swartland producer Mullineux Family Wines, Franschhoek’s Boekenhoutskloof and Paarl’s Nederburg each getting three 5 Star rated wines.

I think more than a few eyebrows hit hairlines when the White Wine of the Year was announced! Badsberg is a former co-operative winery in the Breedekloof, near Rawsonville. Its winemaker, Henry Swiegers is very accomplished, particularly when it comes to crafting sweet wines. A decade ago he was the inaugural winner of the Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year award for a noble late harvest wine and he has subsequently plied his trade overseas, gaining additional experience at Tokaji in Hungary.

There’s been a fair amount of discussion in local circles about Franschhoek challenging Stellenbosch’s supremacy with nine versus 13of the 5 Star wines. Personally, I think it’s a great thing that there is more variety among the top quality wines in terms of point of origin.

The Orange River is capable of many surprises. This watery artery in the arid red-hued Kalahari landscape surprised all and sundry by bursting its banks once again earlier this year. R2.4 billion worth of damage resulted – bridges and roads washed away, not to mention pumps, farming equipment, table grape vines and soil swept away by the rampaging waters. It’s a tribute to the hardy folk of the Northern Cape that they simply knuckled under and got on with setting things back to rights.

The Spar Country Cellars winemaker of the year competition also dished up a few surprises. 2011 marked a decade of Spar’s sponsorship of this competition – and the surprise to me and my fellow judges was that the overall standard of entries had once again been ratcheted up in what was proclaimed a bad year.

Ten years ago Spar’s group liquor executive Ray Edwards mooted the competition among the winemakers of the five wineries which comprise Orange River Cellars to stimulate them to up their game. It was a win-win situation for both – Spar’s offering to consumers in both bottle and bag-in-box has improved because Orange River Cellars have learned a lot of lessons and upped their quality standards.

I can recall very few wines in the inaugural year reaching even moderate scores of 14 and 15 out of 20. A decade later and there were very few which scored under 14… The strides taken over the course of such a short period of time has been remarkable. As one judge said, these were “real Stellenbosch scores – not the special Olympics!” Where there used to be one winemaker per winery there are now 24 winemakers and – more importantly – viticulturists spread between Keimoes, Kakamas, Upington, Grootdrink and Groblershoop cellars which coincidentally span a geographical spread of 350km from west to east.

Where 10 years ago wood contact on wine was unheard of, now it is accomplished and restrained. Searingly high acid levels have been toned down, overripeness is seldom a problem, clumsy winemaking in the form of reduction or sulphur levels is no longer an issue.

These wines are unlikely to see the light of day because they will be blended away into commercial batches. While these wines are made in minute volumes the influence on the large commercial wines produced is pronounced. The Chenin, Chardonnay and Viognier blend might well find traction with a market in the Far East as it’s ideally suited to their food. The overall winner was a red blend of Shiraz, Petit Verdot and Ruby Cabernet that was deliciously succulent, spicy and danced confidently on a restrained platform of oak. A straw wine made from Colombar had all the judges raving and drooling over its delicacy, fresh acidity and clean finish.

The Spar Country Cellars competition has motivated the entire team at ORC. They all vie energetically for the top prize since it carries with it the opportunity of a harvest abroad. The horizon for these Northern Cape winemakers has expanded dramatically in 10 years. They’re eager and ambitious to continue improving standards. These wines – and the fact that Spar is now doing in excess of R30 million worth of business with ORC annually – speaks volumes. And volume is something they know about: Orange River Cellars harvests in excess of 100 000 tons of grapes annually.

Over Friday night’s braai of skilpaadjies and lamb chops, winemakers casually mentioned that their cellars handle a few thousand tons of grapes a day. That’s more than most Western Cape wineries, 800km further south, handle in an entire season…

Ellerman House, high on the slopes of Lion’s Head and Signal Hill, is one of Cape Town’s most discreet and elegant guest houses. It’s hard to know what to focus on: the jaw-droppingly stunning vistas of Bantry Bay and beyond or the original Irma Stern’s, Pierneef, Claerhout and John Meyer artworks that grace its walls.

Yet it was merely the backdrop for a lunch hosted by Luke Bailes and Francois Rautenbach of the equally elegant and discreet Singita. As Rautenbach explained, the intention was to demonstrate Singita’s wine philosophy of showing wines at their peak, after optimum cellaring and maturation. From the outset, the intention at Singita was to never serve a red wine of less than five years old to guests.

Owner Bailes said Singita’s wine list had initially contained a raft of international choices but that guests naturally wanted to sample South African wines to enhance their whole African experience. “It’s all very well telling people that a wine will age for five or 10 years but they need to taste it to fully appreciate how the wine is capable of developing. We’re in a position to do that,” Rautenbach said. Naturally, that stimulated much debate and discussion but the takeout was essentially that we in South Africa do not realise or fully appreciate the true potential of our wines.

The synchronicity of this lunch could not have been better, coming as it did two days after the annual Nederburg auction held in Paarl on 16 and 17 September. The auction was begun 36 years ago to showcase aged South African wines – and some of the prices realised at the 37^th staging showed that buyers certainly appreciate mature wine. A record R68 000 was paid for six bottles of Monis Collectors Port 1948 by Nigerian wine importer and businessman Obi Josephat Ndibe. That translates to R11 333 a bottle… Three bottles of 1961 Chateau Libertas sold for R20 000 while a single bottle of 1930 KWV Red Muscadel Jerepigo was knocked down for R6 500.

Auction organisers were delighted that in spite of the volume of wine being down on 2010 the overall sale tally was up: R6 133 840 vs. R5.7 million. International buyers also accounted for 46% of all sales, up from last year’s 30%.

“What we try to achieve on the food and wine side is to be as memorable an experience as that of the game and hospitality side. If a guest left Singita and said that the wines were ‘nice’ I’d have failed in my job. I want people to say that they have left really impressed – by the diversity, the quality or saying they didn’t know South African wines were capable of such complexity.”

Illustrating his point were the wines: a 2007 Waterford SBS (an experimental Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend), 2007 Cederberg V Generations Chenin Blanc and 2007 De Trafford Chenin Blanc and two red blends, the 2003 Sequillo and 1999 Vergelegen Vergelegen. While different in style, the point was made that SA whites are capable of maturing beautifully. The Cederberg Chenin in particular had a marked freshness to it while the other two whites displayed more tertiary development. Both the Sequillo and Vergelegen were smooth and rounded, packed with flavour and a delicious savoury element.

Singita goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure sufficient stocks to enable them to provide their guests with this singular vinous experience. There are 60 tons of wine in a dedicated, temperature controlled storage facility in Stellenbosch. When transported to either the bulk stores or one of the four Singita lodges in Kruger, Zimbabwe and Tanzania the temperature never fluctuates between 12 and 16 degrees.

Perhaps the anecdote of the day was when Vergelegen cellarmaster Andre van Rensburg visited Singita to host a wine dinner. While being shown around the cellar by Rautenbach he discovered a bottle of 1999 Vergelegen Semillon. “We don’t even have any more of this in the winery!” he said. Rautenbach then recounted that Van Rensburg dipped into Singita’s stock to enable the winery to enter – and win! – the museum class at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show with the same wine!

Ultimately it was a genuine pleasure to be able to drink and enjoy aged white and red wines from South Africa, to appreciate that perhaps we do drink our wines too young. It’s a tragedy that due to cash flow or storage constraints so few local producers are able to hold back significant quantities of wine to mature them fully. After all, Neal Martin, the writer who handles the South African portfolio for Robert Parker’s influential Wine Advocate, stated that some of his most impressive wines tasted on his visit earlier this year were the older ones – like the 1969 Lanzerac Pinotage that blew him away.

It was announced earlier this year that UK master of wine and wine writer Neal Martin would take over responsibility for reviewing South African wines for Robert Parker’s influential Wine Advocate and eRobert Parker.com.

At the time, I made contact with Martin, wanting to find out what his view on South African wine was. He declined to comment, saying that he’d not visited the country nor tasted enough South African wine to be able to form a proper judgement. I was impressed that he didn’t shoot from the hip and have a stock reply. That was back in April. In May he set foot on Boland soil for the first time, visiting to judge at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show as well as taste an extensive range of wines in the weeks that followed.

At the Trophy Wine Show feedback session he said he’d been impressed by two things in particular – and this was after just four days. Firstly, the older examples of South African wines – a Lanzerac Pinotage from the ’60s specifically. “That wine could stand shoulder to shoulder with any Bordeaux First Growth of similar vintage. Those are the wines that South Africa should be taking to the world to prove what you and the country are capable of.” Secondly, Chardonnay. “There were two in particular which impressed me in a large lineup of Chardonnay. I only had to nose them to know that they were world-class.” One of those was the ultimate multiple Trophy winner, the 2009 Chardonnay from Paul Cluver which not only took top honours as the best Chardonnay but also Best White Wine of the competition and the International Judges’ Trophy.

In an article in the 2011 Icons guide Martin wrote: “For this writer, wines at the pinnacle have to meet strict criteria. They must offer not so much an intensity of fruit, but an intensity of flavour. There must be a sense of completeness. There must be a sense of effortlessness, like a singer who merely needs to open her mouth to enrapture an audience.

“Without question, South Africa is well on its way to making truly world-class wines that belong at the pinnacle of appreciation.”

Well, Martin has now written a profile on South Africa entitled “Pour without Prejudice” detailing the results of his South African wine safari, describing his visit as “visceral”. South Africa offers exceptional quality for the price, he said, exhorting readers to try them, saying that incredible heights are being achieved by the greatest examples.

Some of those local wineries singled out for attention after he awarded them top (90+) Robert Parker/Wine Advocate scores are Mvemve Raats which notched up a 96 for the 2008 vintage of MR De Compostella Bordeaux blend, along with De Wetshof, Ken Forrester Wines, Klein Constantia, Morgenster, Rustenberg and Hartenberg.

Martin singled out the younger generation of winemakers for not being hidebound by convention nor following the practices of the previous generation. “They are the ones seeking more marginal terroirs and pockets of old vines, experimenting with grape varieties, keeping it simple but creating wines full of personality and full of stories that attract consumers.”