The Sélections Mondiales des Vins Canada is the most important international wine competition in North America and it took place in the first week of June at the Hotel Palace Royal in Montreal. This year the organization received 2 131 entries from nearly 700 producers across 30 countries. Among these, 630 were prizewinners: 7 Grand Gold Medals, 72 Gold Medals and 551 Silver Medals were awarded. “ This gold medal was one of only four awarded to South African wines,” explains Marketing Manager Barry Kok, “which makes it even more of an achievement.”

The Robertson Winery Vineyard Selection Wolfkloof Shiraz 2005 is part of the cellar’s single vineyard range. The grapes for this wine are sourced from a single vineyard on the farm Wolfkloof owned for generations by the Viljoen family.

According to winemaker Jacques Roux fermentation took place in small open fermentors with the cap being manually punched down every 3 hours for maximum extraction of colour and flavour. “The fruit component was so abundant we were able to mature the wine in oak barrels for 24 months,” he continues, describing the wine as having mulberry, cinnamon and clove aromas following through to a palate laden with blackberries and spice. Soft, ripe tannins and well-integrated oak provide structure and a velvety mouth-feel.