Windmeul takes home Veritas Awards

Windmeul Cellar, which is owned by 36 wine producers in the areas AgterPaarl, Perdeberg, Wellington, Malmesbury en Riebeek, has this year once again featured among South Africa’s top performers at wine competitions.

This Paarl cellar was one of only 10 cellars that achieved two double gold medals at this year’s Veritas Awards and was also adjudged Top Producer for the third time at the Winemakers’ Choice Awards, among others. At the recent release of the 2014 Platter SA Wines, Windmeul was included in the very top group with one five-star, four four-and-a-half stars, and four four-star gradings for its wines.

The Windmeul Reserve Cape Blend 2012 was awarded the sought after Platter five stars after the top quality selected wines from all the cellars in South Africa had been tasted blind, to ensure that only the very best wines received the highest grading.

At this year’s Veritas Awards, the Windmeul Chenin Blanc 2013 was the only unwooded Chenin Blanc in South Africa to receive double gold, among 70 entries in this category. The Windmeul Reserve Pinotage 2012 also boasts double gold and the Windmeul Cellar Sauvignon Blanc 2013 received gold.
Windmeul’s award as Top Producer at the 2013 Winemakers’ Choice Awards was based on six wines receiving Diamond awards: the Windmeul Chenin Blanc Reserve 2012, Chardonnay Reserve 2011, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2010, Shiraz Reserve 2010, Pinotage Reserve 2012 and Cape Blend 2012.

At the 2013 Michelangelo Wine Awards, Windmeul also shone with a double gold and three golds, for the Windmeul Chenin Blanc Reserve 2012 and the Sauvignon Blanc 2013, The Legend 2011 and Pinotage Reserve 2012 respectively. And on top of that, Windmeul also provided one of the finalists for the Perold Absa Cape Blend Competition and two finalists for the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition.

The cellar has the capacity to process 14 500 tons of grapes from the 36 producer-owners in the different areas. According to the general manager and cellarmaster of Windmeul, Danie Marais, their recipe for success, which makes the cellar stand out as one of South Africa’s top producers regarding constant quality, is a devoted team.

“The repeated achievements of the past few years can be ascribed to a well-planned effort executed from the vineyard to the bottle, where everyone involved strives for the very best results. We don’t just hope; on the contrary, everyone works together with a passion to implement the plan of action successfully: the right people together, with the right goals.

“The cellar receives grapes from wine areas in Paarl, Swartland and Wellington, which can probably rightfully be regarded as some of the best wine districts in the industry. Grapes of exceptional quality are produced by dedicated members and delivered to the cellar with their excellent co-operation,” is Danie Marais’ summary of the source of their constant stellar quality over the past number of years.

Caption for photo: (photographer Shawn Benjamin)
Danie Marais, cellarmaster of Windmeul (left), and Francois van Niekerk, winemaker of Windmeul (right), with Philip van Zyl, editor of the Platter Wine Guide, at the recent launch of the new 2014 Platter and the announcement of the five-star wines.