We achieved excellent results at this year’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, South Africa’s premier wine competition. The Mentors Semillon 2009 scooped a gold medal as well as the trophy for best Semillon overall! We asked winemaker Johan Fourie to comment on the achievement:

“Our cellar philosophy is to be innovative, fresh and bold enough to experiment. We’re also always looking for better vineyard sites and wine styles, all of this with the aim to produce the best wines possible. 2008 was our first go at using grapes from the alluvial plain where the Olifants River flows into the cold Atlantic Ocean, a unique vineyard site. The 2008 Semillon exceeded everyone’s expectations and resulted in our very first stand alone Semillon. 2009, an all round fantastic white wine season, has also produced another Semillon stunner.”

“A satisfying result for KWV at the 2010 trophy wine show is that both our white and red wines over a wide spectrum of varietals (blends and single varietal wines) performed well. Our success at this show wasn’t just a ‘one hit wonder’: our overall strong performance and medal acknowledgement of the other wines entered made KWV the 4th most successful winery of the show.”

KWV received the following awards:

Gold KWV The Mentors Semillon 2009
Silver KWV The Mentors Petit Verdot 2008
Silver KWV The Mentors Orchestra 2007
Silver KWV The Mentors Canvas 2008
Silver KWV Cathedral Cellar Sauvignon blanc 2009
Bronze KWV The Mentors Shiraz 2008
Bronze Cathedral Cellar Chardonnay 2008
Bronze KWV The Mentors Sauvignon blanc 2009
Bronze KWV The Mentors Viognier 2009
Bronze KWV The Mentors Sauvignon blanc/ Semillon 2009
Bronze Laborie Blanc de Blanc 2006

The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is judged by 50 wine experts from 40 nationalities. These include journalists and editors, wine makers, enologists, sommeliers and wine educators, giving the event a unique character.

A whopping total of 6 964 wines were entered, with only 2 042 being awarded. KWV The Mentors range was awarded 2 gold and 3 silver medals (wines had to receive at least 85.4 out of 100 to receive a silver).

KWV The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc 2009 – GOLD
KWV The Mentors Petit Verdot 2008 – GOLD
KWV The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon 2009 – SILVER
KWV The Mentors Orchestra 2008 – SILVER
KWV The Mentors Canvas 2008 – SILVER

Our chief winemaker, Richard Rowe comments: “The international success we have achieved with the KWV The Mentors range is a reflection on our winemaking philosophy: we focus on selecting the right parcels of fruit and and using simple, sound winemaking practices to achieve better stylistic wines.