Backsberg wins Grand Gold at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2009

Ask the winemaker about the Grand Gold? | Video

Thu, May 14, 2009

I tend to commiserate with local wine journo’ Emile Joubert when he describes the ‘ream of [press] releases’ floating around at the moment. The European wine competition season is in full swing. As a wine producer, how does one stand out from the noise of these releases? We still need to get the message out there. In my view - one option would be to NOT hand the story over to the closest PR company. A really CRAZY idea we are trying at Backsberg for this press release - because ultimately it is press release - is to get the winemaker to talk about the wine. Shock. And record it with a video camera. Horror. And it put it up on YouTube. Sure, maybe it won’t be completely slick with all the right adjectives and grammar in place. I say that’s better (Update at the bottom).

In case you are accessing this from a game lodge in Uganda (we actually sell a surprising amount of wine there) with no bandwidth to watch the above video, here is some of the key information.

Numbers

The results of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles were recently announced. In this its 16th edition, there were a massive 6,289 wines and spirits produced in 54 countries that took part in this “world championship” of wines. Some well known judges from South Africa took part on the judging side, namely Dave Hughes, Neil Pendock, Fiona McDonald and Hymli Krige.

Of the 6289 entries there were 61 Grand Gold Medals awarded. Of the Grand Golds, 2 went to South Africa. Backsberg entered two wines – Babylons Toren Red, which won one of the 2 Grand Gold medals and Klein Babylonstoren, which was awarded a silver.

BT Red

Our Babylons Toren Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz made from the best grapes on the farm.

It all starts with our harvesters – out in the early morning hand-picking grapes from the vineyards on the slopes of the Simonsberg mountain. Following this, the three components are each looked after individually. The Cabernet Sauvignon is fermented and post macerated on the skins for 5 weeks, while the Merlot and Shiraz are fermented, but removed from the skins after fermentation. Following this, each component is matured separately for 12 months. Finally, the wine is blended and matured for a further 24 months in French oak barrels. The best barrels out of the blend are then selected and carefully prepared for bottling.

The wine is named after a rocky outcrop (koppie) near the farm which reminded the early Dutch settlers of the fabled Tower of Babylon. Many years later we created the Babylons Toren wine range which would make a distinct impression, just as the koppie forms a distinct part of the surrounding landscape.

P.S. To order the Babylons Toren Red in SA please email Carina on sales@backsberg.co.za . Cost per bottle is R147.50 excluding delivery. Delivery costs vary depending on where you are based, so please pop your address into the email and we will figure it out from there. For orders abroad please contact me here.

P.P.S Also a word of congrats to Clos Malverne who picked up the a Grand Gold for their Pinotage Reserve 2007.

Update: Emile emailed me about my comment on PR. To clarify, I believe (and agree with Emile that) there is a space for PR companies with a difference; what I think is dead in the water, is generic, voiceless PR releases. We have so much character in the South African wine industry and we need to put it out there. I think it such a pity when it is lost in PR speak.

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This post was written by:

Simon Back- who has written 51 posts on the Back Chat Blog. After finishing up studying economics at UCT in 2007, Simon has joined his family wine farm, Backsberg. When he is not trying to figure out what marketing wine means, he is authoring his blog, Back Chat.

Author's web site: Backsberg