Benguela Cove Triumphs at the 2023 Terroir Wine Awards
Benguela Cove Wines Celebrates National Recognition at the 2023 SA Terroir Awards
Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate is celebrating a double victory at the prestigious 2023 Terroir Wine Awards in South Africa. The estate has been named the National Winner in two wine classes, Semillon and Noble Late Harvest, for its Benguela Cove Catalina Semillon 2020 and Benguela Cove Noble Late Harvest 2020 vintages.
The Terroir Wine Awards, established in 2004, is a celebration of South African wines that authentically express their origin. The annual competition focuses on terroir and recognises wines that best showcase the natural environment in which the grapes are produced. The judges conduct blind tastings, and only products certified as Wine of Origin (WO) from a Single Vineyard, Estate, Ward, or District are eligible for entry.
Estate owner Penny Streeter says:
"This is a remarkable achievement that highlights the pedigree and consistent quality of the wine. Our last three vintages of Catalina - 2018, 2019, 2020 - have all been National Winners. The 2019 vintage was also the highest-scoring single vineyard wine on show."
Additionally, our Noble Late Harvest also won at the SA Terroir Awards. This year, both our wines were recognised, showing our consistent quality.
Benguela Cove only produces Noble Late Harvest in those rare years when conditions during the ripening season maximise the occurrence of botrytis cinerea (or Noble rot). 2020 and 2015 were when the stars aligned and the estate could make this special style of wine, says the winemaker Johann Fourie:
"The Terroir Awards recognise only single-origin wines, and this holds special relevance for Benguela Cove as a 100 per cent estate-grown wine producer. We centre our winemaking philosophy on crafting site-specific wines that showcase our terroir. These awards highlight the best examples and provide an opportunity to benchmark ourselves against other producers with a similar approach. We compare very well."
Previous National Winners of the Terroir Awards for Benguela Cove were:
Catalina Semillon 2018 (2020)
Cap Classique 2017 (2021)
Estate Malbec 2019 (2021)
Catalina 2019 (2022) Also Trophy: highest scoring single vineyard wine
Catalina 2020 (2023)
Noble Late Harvest 2020 (2023)
