RMB WineX 2011: Best wines on show announced

Even in the face of the Economic Freedom march on Thursday 27th October (the second day of the show), 12 500 wine enthusiasts primed their taste buds and donned their bling to attend the Southern Hemisphere's premier consumer wine event.

At every edition of WineX - pretty much since the show's inception - wine lovers are invited to vote for their favourites in the Best Wines on Show Awards.

RMB WineX 2011 – Best Wines on Show

1st place shared: Diemersfontein Pinotage 2011 and De Toren Fusion V 2009

3rd place: Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2009

The other 7 wines making the top ten listings are (in alphabetical order according to producer): Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block 2010, Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2010, KWV Café Culture Coffee Pinotage 2010, Meerlust Rubicon 2007, Raka Quinary 2007, Saronsberg Full Circle 2008 and Tokara Director’s Reserve White 2010. Of the 203 exhibitors (presenting a total of over 1 050 wines), De Toren received the most votes for their full range of wines on show, Meerlust second and Hamilton Russell Vineyards third.

More than an event with the greatest range of the country’s top wines on show, RMB WineX prides itself in offering wine lovers the opportunity to meet the winemakers and come face-to-face with the personalities behind the brands. As the list of top ten wines suggests, show visitors were spoilt for choice with a premium range of established wineries as well as an extraordinary selection of newcomer wineries such as Druk My Niet, Hughes Family Wines, Fable Wines, Holden Manz, Trajan Wines and Sequillo.

2011 saw the re-introduction of the ballot for the stand that provided the most memorable experience at the show. This year’s favourite exhibitors were:

RMB WineX 2011 – Most Memorable Exhibitor

1st place: Vrede en Lust
2nd place: Raka
3rd place: De Toren

Commenting on this year’s poll, WineX director Michael Fridjhon said: "Despite an ever-changing crowd, with more new generation wine drinkers at RMB WineX in Sandton than ever before, we have seen a gratifying pattern of consistency among the top ten candidates. Probably half of them have finished more than once on this list, while several have garnered enough local and international awards to suggest a strong correlation between the results of the ballot and the views of judges at blind tastings."

Shop@Show, facilitated by Norman Goodfellows, offered a cost-effective, convenient and legally compliant means to purchase wines at the show. This year saw two innovations designed to assist consumers in budget-sensitive times: Great Deals, where more than 10 percent of the exhibitors offered additional discounts on selection of their wines on show, and the introduction of the two bottle packs allowing greater purchase flexibility. Just more than R3 million in wine sales was generated over the three days with the Diemersfontein Pinotage 2011 the top seller by volume and the Meerlust Rubicon 2007 by value.

Another traditional feature of RMB WineX is the annual participation of the Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora whose members manage the wine stock distribution for the full course of the show. Through their services and additional fundraising via the imminent sale of exhibitors’ donated wines via www.winex.co.za, the charity organization raises substantial funds for a range of community projects. For the second year running, WineX donated R 6000 to the Pebbles Project raised through the coin-operated breathalyser machines available at the show, to be put towards the trust’s Early Childhood Development programme. See www.pebblesproject.co.za.