Our Chenin Blanc Single Vineyard 2020 was crowned the 2022 Trophy Winner for the Best Old Vine Wine in South Africa’s most prestigious wine competition, The Trophy Wine Show!
At the awards ceremony, our winemaker, Kiara Scott, received the Rosa Kruger Trophy for the 2020 vintage, which took Gold with a top score of 97/100 placing it first in its category. The 2022 Trophy Wine Show is is judged by an illustrious international and local judging panel, chaired by wine authority Michael Fridjhon. The press release from the Trophy Wine Show speaks of the “most trophy and gold medal winners [having] previously occupied a space in The Trophy Wine Show’s winners’ enclosure” with very few newcomers to the arena. However, this was Brookdale’s first time participating in the competition and we are bursting with pride for what our team has accomplished!
Our Rosa Kruger Trophy follows hot on the heels of the Chenin Blanc’s excellent result in the Decanter World Wine Awards, where the same vintage of Brookdale Chenin Blanc Single Vineyard also scored Gold.
Kiara Scott attributes the astounding success of this vintage to ‘an evolution in our winemaking practices, as we work with our heritage vines and terroir to express vintage specific characteristics with minimal intervention’. Brookdale Estate is situated at the foothills of the Drakenstein Mountains of the Paarl Wine Valley where our 36-year-old block of trellised Chenin Blanc is one of few certified ‘Old Vine Chenin Blancs’ in the region. The Brookdale Chenin Blanc Single Vineyard (2020) was the highest scoring white wine from the Paarl region in the 2022 Decanter Awards, clearly showing a world of possibility within the Paarl terroir through the unique combination of character and elegance when in the right hands and applying an inquisitive mind.
Brookdale Chenin Blanc, Single Vineyard 2020
The 2020 Brookdale Chenin Blanc Single Vineyard is only the fourth expression of this terroir-specific wine (produced in limited quantities of just 4000 bottles). This special wine is developing a bit of a cult-like following due to its flavour, nuanced character and precise equilibrium carefully created under the gentle hand of winemaker Kiara Scott. The wine has enjoyed the benefit of a minimal intervention approach to winemaking, that results in a unique combination of character and elegance in the glass – a true expression of terroir and heritage vines.
‘Unmasked, crushed stones unspool while limey, powdered chalk rides a wave of white citrus and white pear, underpinned by subtle oak spice. On the palate, the sensational white fruit continues. The mineral structure presents vertical and endless, enlivened by soft buoyant acids and a mouth-coating citrus purity. The finish is luminous, with a real granitic freshness’, commented wine writer Malu Lambert.
Brookdale Mason Road Results
Brookdale’s range of lifestyle wines, under the Mason Road label, were also entered into The Trophy Wine Show for the first time this year. The Mason Road Chenin Blanc 2021 (93) and Mason Road Serendipity Rosé 2021 (90) walked away with Silver-medals to prove the mettle of our winery’s burgeoning wine portfolio. Medium-bodied with revitalising freshness alongside full fruit flavours as a result of the warm climate and cool mountain breeze, the Mason Road range is harvested from vines directly surrounding the Manor House. Each vintage is a discovery of terroir with a focus on minimal intervention embracing harvest specific and site specific practices within the Paarl wine valley.
The Mason Road Chenin Blanc is fragrant and inviting, opening with honeysuckle and pear drop; evolving to an electric current of topicality, like an island storm – pineapple, mango, zingy squeezes of lime, the flintiness of rain. On entry a bloom of honeycomb precedes fleshy pear and that abundance of tropical fruit, around which an enlivening acidity sculpts and cools. The Mason Road Serendipity Rosé, on the other hand, is a Provence-style rosé with a pale salmon pink colour. The elegant nose offers raspberry, watermelon, and citrus peel, while the well-balanced palate has good fruit concentration featuring watermelon, strawberry and grapefruit, with subtle floral notes.
