Last chance to enter the Aspiring Top Drop Awards 2026

Entries for the inaugural Top Drop Awards sponsored by courier company Aspiring are now open. To be eligible, a wine must retail for R120 a bottle or less, either at the producer’s cellar door or through a major retailer such as Checkers, Pick n Pay, Makro, TOPS at SPAR or Woolworths.

How results will be communicated

On the website, we balance quality (points) and value. To achieve this, we publish both 100-point scores and a derived value score.

Value Score = Quality Points × (Reference Price / Wine Price)

The higher the quality and the lower the price relative to the reference, the higher the value score.

In-store, we simplify to a single consumer cue. All wines at R120 or under that meet the selection threshold receive the same badge. The aim is clarity: one mark of approval signalling quality, affordability and trust, without score comparison or visual clutter.

Judges

Awards chairman is Winemag.co.za editor Christian Eedes. Judges are:

Robin Kenny, DipWSET
Malu Lambert, wine writer
Francois Rautenbach, hospitality and wine specialist
Lauren Segers, Brice & Burnett
Suné van der Merwe, wine consultant
Tarryn Vincent, Reciprocal Wine Company

Enter now

Entries are now closed. Results out on 4 September.

Prizes

The producer of the best wine overall in each of the respective categories wins shipping services worth R5 000 from Aspiring Couriers.