Prescient Minority Report 2021: Niche White Varieties Top 10

By , 20 July 2021

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Introduction

This year’s Minority Report convened by winemag.co.za and sponsored by multinational financial services company Prescient is to be released sequentially – part one featuring niche white varieties now out. There were 47 wines entered and these were tasted blind (labels out of sight) by a three-person panel, scoring done according to the 100-point quality scale.

Niche White Varieties Top 10

The 10 best wines are as follows:

93

Vergelegen Reserve Semillon 2019
Price: R325
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 13.56%

92

Le Belle Rebelle A Bird in the Hand Semillon 2020
Price: R240
Wine of Origin: Breedekloof
Abv: 13.19%

92

Old Road Wine Co. Grand-Mére Semillon 2018
Price: R304
Wine of Origin: Franschhoek
Abv: 13.5%

91

Bosman Fides Grenache Blanc 2019
Price: R250
Wine of Origin: Wellington
Abv: 13.11%

91

Cavalli The Foal Verdelho 2019
Price: R230
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 13.81%

91

Painted Wolf Roussanne 2019
Price: R170
Wine of Origin: Voor Paardeberg
Abv: 13.61%

91

Wildeberg White 2020 (100% Semillon)
Price: R360
Wine of Origin: Franschhoek
Abv: 13.82%

90

Altydgedacht Gewürztraminer 2020
Price: R130
Wine of Origin: Cape Town
Abv: 13.23%

90

Mischa Roussanne 2021
Price: R187
Wine of Origin: Groenberg
Abv: 13.13%

90

Stellenbosch Vineyards Limited Release Verdelho 2020
Price: R275
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 14.29%

Vergelegen, Somerset West.

About the category

The focus of the Minority Report is on wines from varieties whose respective total plantings do not exceed 5 000ha. South Africa’s eight most widely planted varieties (Chenin Blanc, Colombar, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Pinotage, Chardonnay, and Merlot in that order) all have plantings of over 5 000ha and together make up 82% of the national vineyard – this is a chance for the more subordinate varieties to shine!

In-depth analysis

To read the report in full, including key findings, tasting notes for the top wines and scores on the 100-point quality scale for all wines entered, download the following: Prescient Minority Report 2021

Shop online

Johannesburg boutique wine retailer Dry Dock Liquor is offering some of the wines in the Top 10 for sale and can deliver nationwide once the alcohol ban has been lifted – buy now.

Online retailer Wine-of-the-Month Club is offering a six-bottle mixed case selected from the Top 10 – buy now.

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Comments

8 comment(s)

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    Chris | 21 July 2021

    Congrats to Altydgedacht for persisting with Gewurtraminer, cant be easy selling niche varieties esp where tricky to pronounce.

      Helgard | 21 July 2021

      Thank you Chris!

      Yes, it is a rather tricky sell, but mostly once tasted people can’t get enough of it. An award like this helps us a lot and gives me the confidence that we are on the right track with this wine and I’m hoping with the 2021 vintage we will do even better.

        Lynne Jarche Ford | 28 July 2021

        I am so delighted to see this appear again, it has always been one of the best examples of this variety in the Cape and cant wait to get some. We need to convert more to the delights of this grape.

    Roman Kerze | 20 July 2021

    It is interesting to see Semillon doing so well as it’s not a variety we see any South African examples of in Europe.

    The few Cape Semillons we have tasted have been beautiful, with Boekenhoutskloof from Franschhoek being particularly impressive – great texture and freshness. And it seems with a very long ageing potential.

    We will search out those from your report!

      Udo+Göebel | 21 July 2021

      “as it’s not a variety we see any South African examples of in Europe”

      Huh? Widely available! I did a Semillon tasting recently with 24 examples.
      Wines from Thorne & Daughters, Damascene , De Kleine Wijn Koöp, Naudé , Alheit, Boekenhoutskloof, Swerwer and Eben Sadie are (easily) available

    Kwispedoor | 20 July 2021

    I’d prefer to see Colombard included in this tasting. Sure, there are lots of Colombard vineyards, but the bulk of it is going to brandy production. A few big co-operative Colombards also just ride the fermentation ester wave until they fade away, but Colombards like those of Naudé, Lowerland, Blacksmith and Aspoestertjie are nothing if not niche and would fit really nicely into this category. (and where else?)

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