The Stables Wine Estate Media Release

 No: Stables0714

23 August 2007

Nottingham Road – The Stables Wine Estate scooped another historic first for the emerging KwaZulu-Natal wine industry by winning a silver medal at the South African Young Wine Awards for it’s 2007 Pinotage.

It is the first medal won by a KwaZulu-Natal grown and made red wine, and follows hot on the heels of the award for their Sauvignon Blanc, which made history at the Swiss International Airline awards by becoming the first KwaZulu-Natal white wine to win a medal.

The Pinotage was grown at The Stables’ Greytown vineyards, as part of a large crop of grapes that will result in a sweeping range of KwaZulu-Natal Wines of Origin being released in the coming months. 

A delighted Tiny and Judy van Niekerk, the owners of The Stables Wine Estate, said that the recognition from the panel of judges which undertook the blind tasting, was another significant development from the provinces wine industry, and underscored the huge potential for making quality wines in the Midlands.

“This is truly awesome,” said Judy van Niekerk. “The blind tasting is all about identifying wine with genuine potential very early on in their maturation. The awards are taken seriously by the wine industry as an indicator of farms where the viniculture process is working well, and producing potentially high quality wines.”

“The SAWIS wine inspector himself drew the Pinotage from the cellars in Greytown, and submitted it to the show in Paarl,” added Judy van Niekerk, who has had to deal with some cynical detractors who have questioned their successful production of KwaZulu-Natal grown wines.

“I really feel that this puts us on the map, and fills us with a great deal of confidence about the harvest from our Greytown vineyard,” she added. The Pinotage that won the award is the third wholly KwaZulu-Natal grown wine to receive public acclaim.

Their 2005 Pinotage Clariet Blanc de Noir paved the way for the province’s recognition as an independent wine growing region. Earlier this year the Sauvignon Blanc from the Greytown vineyard earned it’s Swiss International Airline wine award.

The trellising of the vines at The Stables vineyards outside Nottingham Road is well under way, ensuring that the grapes that have been established there will be in a position to yield a crop for more KwaZulu-Natal originated wines in 2008.

For more information please contact Judy on 033 266 6781 or by email on info@stableswine.co.za

ENDS

Dave Macleod/
Gameplan Media