The team behind this invaluable annual has just announced which wines have won its coveted Five Star awards for 2004. I'm delighted to see that several wines which stood out during my brief stay there in May feature, notably The Foundry Shiraz and The Cluver Riesling, as well of course as Vergelegen which did so well in the Trophy Wine Show I was judging. I'm not surprised to see a Steenberg Semillon win an award. It's a wine that certainly stands out in a crowd. I was knocked out by the 2002 when I came across it chez Waitrose, Britain's most wine-minded supermarket chain (which has also stocked Platter's Five Star Chardonnay, Journey's End), but that was hardly surprising. It is a massive 15 per cent alcohol. It's great, but should probably be sipped rather than gulped.
Platter Five Star wines for 2004:
- Méthode Cap Classique – Villiera Brut Natural 2001
- Sauvignon Blanc – Steenberg Reserve 2003
- Semillon – Steenberg 2003
- Chardonnay – Kumala Journey's End 2002
- Dry white blends – Vergelegen Estate White 2002
- Red blends – Cordoba Crescendo 2000, Ernie Els 2001, Rust en Vrede Estate 2000, Vergelegen CWG Blend 2001
- Pinotage – Kaapzicht Estate Steytler 2001
- Cabernet Sauvignon – Vergelegen 2001, Vergelegen V Nirvana 2001
- Pinot Noir – Bouchard Finlayson Tête de Cuvée Galpin Peak 2001
- Shiraz – The Foundry 2001
- Noble Late Harvest – Paul Cluver Weisser Riesling 2003, Ken Forrester ‘T’ 2001
- Port – Boplaas CWG Vintage Reserve 2001
Here's what the Platter team have to say about this list.
Established wineries with proven track records took the lion’s share of the five-star rankings awarded in the 2004 edition of the John Platter SA Wine Guide, to be published in late November.
Vergelegen, with a total of four five-stars, dominates the prestigious list. Steenberg and Rust en Vrede claim two apiece (albeit that R&V takes honours for a red blend it makes on behalf of champion SA golfer, Ernie Els).
Announcing the top wines, the guide's publisher, Andrew McDowall, said 17 wines had made the stringent selection for the 2004 edition. The majority of the five stars could be said to come from producers with more than just a few vintages under their belts – the only newcomer on the list was The Foundry, an own-label owned by Delaire winemaker Chris Williams and wine-partner James Reid. (Reid, who full-times as operations director for Western Wines, gets another five-star laurel this year via the Journey's End Chardonnay, a new prestige label within the immensely successful Kumala range.)
'It is pleasing to see the stringent efforts of established producers rewarded with a top rating in the book,' McDowall said. 'At the same time, the potential of newcomers is also recognised. Of course, several of the producers who have garnered five-stars this year have narrowly missed the accolade in previous years and we congratulate them on their achievement.'
These results are the culmination of several months of intensive tasting, by an internationally experienced team, of over 4000 individual wines. These were sampled and ranked according to the guide's five-point scale, which ranges from no stars ('somewhat less than ordinary', equal to fewer than 10 on the commonly used 20-point system) up to five stars ('superlative – a Cape classic', equal to 18.5 points or more).
In the course of their evaluations, the guide's tasters identified a limited number of candidate five-stars (only finished, bottled wines, available during the currency of the guide, were considered). The short-listed wines were then judged by a full panel. The 17 wines that made the cut are, in a very real sense, SA's vinous elite.
'The credibility of the Platter ratings is enhanced by its policy of tasting and assessing, as far as is practically possible, all of the wines that are available, locally as well as abroad, during the currency of the particular edition. This makes it unique in South Africa and possibly the world,' McDowall highlighted.
John and Erica Platter, who for years produced this comprehensive guide double-handedly, now play a much less demanding role in the Guide's production. The full team of Platter tasters for 2004 comprised John Platter, Michael Fridjhon, Angela Lloyd, Jabulani Ntshangase, Neil Pendock, Dave Swingler; Richard Kelley MW; Cape Wine Masters Tim James, Tony Mossop, Christine Rudman and Irina von Holdt; honorary member of the Institute of Cape Wine Masters Dave Hughes.
The 2004 edition of guide will available from late November 2003 when it can be ordered from their website. The recommended retail price within South Africa is 99.95 Rand, about £10/$15/15 euros.