Food & Wine News South Africa

Five Gold medals for Groot Constantia

Groot Constantia wines were awarded a total of five gold medals at two recent international wine awards, namely the Monde Selection in Brussels and the International Wine Challenge in London, at which the estate won three and two Gold medals, respectively.
Five Gold medals for Groot Constantia

The Groot Constantia 2010 Grand Constance, 2010 Gouverneurs Reserve Red and 2012 Sauvignon Blanc wines achieved Gold at the Monde Selection awards whilst the 2010 Grand Constance and the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc also achieved Gold at the International Wine Challenge. This follows closely on the back of the recent awards won at the 2013 Top 100 SA Wines competition in which four of Groot Constantia's wines were selected as winners.

In fact, collectively, the 2012 Groot Constantia Chardonnay, the 2010 Grand Constance, the 2010 Gouverneurs Reserve Red, the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2010 Shiraz has scooped a total of 11 Gold medals since October of last year with the 2010 Shiraz having also won Gold medals at the Taj Classic Wine Show and the Michelangelo International Wine Awards.

New things planned

"It is thanks to our dynamic team who spend so much time and energy in the vineyards that we can lay claim to these awards. Approximately six years ago we took a new direction in the vineyards and the improvement in quality has been amazing," said Boela Gerber, winemaker of Groot Constantia. "There are still quite a few things we would like to change and new things we plan to try in the vineyard - I am really excited of what is still to come."

"Groot Constantia is South Africa's oldest wine farm and was developed by Simon van der Stel in 1685, where he lived and produced fine wines for 27 years until his death," said Jean Naudé, GM of Groot Constantia.

"Van der Stel laid the foundations of the Groot Constantia historical precinct, which is world-renowned for its Cape Dutch architecture. The wine cellars of Groot Constantia produced the early famous Constantia wines, which history shows were savoured by the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte, King Louis Philippe of France, Frederic the Great of Prussia, Otto van Bismarck and the British Royal family. In fact, the Grand Constance is a brand developed in the 1800s and is still being produced by Groot Constantia."

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