Our beloved bovines Spijker & Bessie could not contain their excitement when, for the second year in a row, the Spijker Malbec was awarded with a gold medal at the annual Malbec Challenge! This time it was the turn of our 2020 vintage to be placed amongst the cream of the crop, with 12 wines in total managing to score a gold medal.
The Malbec Challenge is an initiative which is independently run by Events by Celia. The aim is to shine the light on South African Malbec. The competition is run professionally and according to the international standards.
The winning winery (highest score overall) receives a Tonnellerie De Mercurey barrel of either 225, 228 or 300L according to their requirement, thanks to RX South Africa, the Malbec Challenge sponsor since 2019. The oak comes from three different French forests, to create a wide range of barrel styles and qualities for international wine cellar requirements, with the stave mill located in Champagne.
The tiny, thick-skinned little grapes of the Malbec vine produce inky black wine with medium to robust tannins. Well made Malbec smells and tastes of red and black plums, raspberries, chocolate and tobacco and works very well with intelligent oak management. Whilst best known as a component of the classic Bordeaux blend, these wines were all 100% Malbec. According to the judges, the standard was pleasing with a slight tendency towards heavy oak which personally, which they thought could be used a little more carefully. On balance, they said the wines were clean and bright and made for an interesting and enjoyable few hours of judging.
To read the full article, please click here: https://news.wine.co.za/news.aspx?NEWSID=40494