Survivor has swept the board for Pinotage at the 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards in London with two wines achieving the highest scores of 94 and 93 for this South African signature grape variety.
Considered among South Africa’s benchmark examples of Pinotage, the limited release Survivor Reserve Pinotage 2017 scored a whopping 94/100 followed by Survivor Pinotage 2018 from the Barrel Selection range on 93 points.
Over 16 500 wines from across the globe were tasted blind in this prestigious international wine competition by a judging panel comprising some of the world’s top wine experts including UK Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers.
“South Africa’s time is most definitely now,” says Greg Sherwood MW, and DWWA Regional Chairperson for South Africa who believes that South Africa is making the most exciting wines of any New World country at the moment.
Firmly rooted in the Swartland these unbridled and authentic, site specific Survivor Pinotage wines are a tribute to the spirited indigenous Nguni cow that stands proud on every bottle.
“We always knew that our flagship wine would be Pinotage, the vinous fingerprint of South Africa. It is something we are immensely proud of,” says winemaker Ben Snyman, who considers Survivor Pinotage to be a true expression of the best that the low-yielding Swartland vineyards fanned by evening breezes from the Atlantic can produce.
The limited release Survivor Reserve Pinotage 2017 is a thoroughbred Swartland wine. Only 1 500 individually numbered bottles are crafted with passion and artistry by the Survivor winemaking team from the best small parcels of vines. The wine is described by the Decanter judging panel as “rich and full with mouth coating breadth,” showing “intense dark fruit and sweet spice.”
Also made of 100% Swartland grapes, the more accessible Survivor Pinotage 2018 is described as appealing “with blackberry and mulberry flavours” and ‘touches of earth on the palate”.
These meticulously crafted wines can be purchased online at https://survivorwines.com/wine-shop/ or from selected outlets countrywide.
