Durbanville Hills is celebrating Two Top 10 awards! Their cool climate signature is unmissable in these two wines.
At the 2023 Trophy Wine Show the Collectors Reserve Cape Mist Sauvignon Blanc 2022 scored 97 out of 100 and received a gold medal as one of the Top 10 White Wines, as well as being named one of the Top 10 Best Value White Wines. More than 688 wines from across South Africa’s wine-producing regions were entered and judged by a panel of wine experts who scored the wines according to the international 100-point scale.
The Collectors Reserve High Noon Shiraz 2021 was awarded as Top 10 in the Prescient Shiraz 2023 Report, and judges praised the wine for being “a polished wine with both weight and texture.” More than 80 entries were received from 58 producers with less than half of the wines making the important 90-point threshold.
These awards, including numerous others, achieved the past six months; all have the area’s unique cool climate DNA. The endless variety of slopes and hills, close proximity to the ocean with its cooling sea breezes and early morning mist, allow the winemakers to grow red and white varietals with equal success to truly capture the unique terroir of the area. The wines are fruit-forward, exceptionally well-balanced and structured.
The Collectors Reserve range is inspired by Cape Town’s radiant energy and creativity, and each wine reflects a prominent landmark of the city, visually illustrated on the labels by Cape Town artist Theo Paul Vorster.
The Shiraz is named after the Noon Gun on Signal hill, originally used to announce the arrival of ships in port with a thundering sound and the peppery smell of gunpowder in the air. Today at high noon each day, the cannon sounds through the Mother City, aptly matching this stellar Shiraz with its prominent notes of spice and pepper.
The grapes for the Collectors Reserve High Noon 2021 were hand-picked from an 18-year-old North-facing vineyard with a clear view of the West Coast. In the cellar, the wine was matured for 14 months in a combination of new and second-fill extra tight-grained French Oak barrels with a small portion of American oak used.
Beautiful deep red with a ruby edge in colour, upfront aromas of freshly ground black pepper and a floral-perfumed note of violets lead to dark red fruits and subtle savoury undertones on the nose. The wine is elegant and medium-bodied with spicy red wine flavours of sweet red fruit, oriental spice, French vanilla pod and broody blackberries.
The Sauvignon Blanc pays tribute to the cool climate terroir of the area, and the Cape Mist, a natural phenomenon that bathes the vines in cool, moist air, and slows down ripening for exceptional quality grapes.
The grapes were hand-selected early morning and transported under a blanket of dry ice pellets from two south-facing blocks on the westerly side of the valley with clay-rich soils on weathered shale and fractured shale. The second batch was sourced from the highest vineyards, at 360 meters above sea level, strewn with Hornfels rocks. The third site was harvested from two vineyards on the valley floor with deep loamy soils, and the final from vineyards in the coolest part on the inside of the valley high up on the southerly slopes.
The wine is clear with a fresh greenness on the edges. The wine opens up to an abundance of ripe tropical fruit such as passion fruit, grapefruit and black currant complemented by pineapple, yellow cling peaches, greener flavours of fig, herbaceous notes and flintiness. Creamy and full-bodied with lingering passion fruit and citrus, a multitude of flavours are revealed as the wine warms in the glass. It’s definitely a wine that will keep you intrigued with each sip.
We hope you enjoy exploring these wines and the landmarks that each tell a story of time and place.
Best wine wishes
THE DURBANVILLE HILLS WINEMAKING TEAM
@DurbanvilleHills #CoolClimate #Dhills
*content and product supplied*