The inspiration behind Nederburg’s cache of double golds earned at the 2024 Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards can be found in the legacy of Günter Brözel (90), newly crowned Winemaking Legend in Tim Atkin MW’s 2024 South Africa Wine report.
Commenting on Nederburg’s performance at Michelangelo that delivered four double gold and three gold medals, Samuel Viljoen, the Paarl winery’s cellar master, says: “Tim Atkin’s acknowledgement of Günter’s contribution to the South African wine industry is so entirely deserved. He may have retired as cellar master in 1989, but his ethos is still in evidence across every aspect of Nederburg. I like to believe that we exemplify the principles and priorities Günter cultivated. I do my best to keep them alive as I mentor and motivate today’s cellar team.
“During his 33-year career here, Günter established a way of thinking that remains unchanged. The world of winemaking has altered. We have urgent climate change priorities to address. We know new things about winegrowing, winemaking and wine marketing, but the values he embedded almost four decades ago, stay strikingly relevant.
“The relentless pursuit of quality, always seeking to better our best efforts, was a foundation that he set. His questing, lively curiosity and innovative spirit continue to animate our winegrowing, winemaking and new product development. As the consummate blender of technology with craftsmanship, he encouraged all those who’ve followed to see it as a tool for enhancing artistry.”
Samuel points out that one of the four double-gold medallists, the 2020 Heritage Heroes Motorcycle Marvel, a Rhône-style blend, is a wine named in honour of Günter. He was renowned for driving up and down the vineyards, often well before dawn and after dusk, on his vintage BSA motorcycle, to check on the development and ripening of the grapes. “Of course, grapes could be chemically analysed during his time, but taste was always the final arbiter in determining his harvesting schedules. And today? Just the same.”
Günter introduced the Private Bin name that features in the Private Bin Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon 2020. “His Cabernets from the 1960s to the 1980s, are still suffused with life decades later.
“Among the other double-gold winners is the 2022 Edelrood Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend, a modern interpretation of a wine that Günter launched in the 1970s. Then as now, it has always been intended as an elegantly styled wine, accessibly priced for everyday enjoyment. Meanwhile, the 2022 Double Barrel Reserve, a Cabernet Sauvignon-led Bordeaux-style blend, with each component vinified and wood-aged separately, followed by further oaking as a unified whole, is a tribute to deft detailing. Just the kind of idea that would appeal to Günter, given his own meticulous attention to detail.”
The three Nederburg wines to earn gold at Michelangelo are the 2023 vintage of The Winemasters Chardonnay, The Winemasters Grenache Carignan Rosé, and the 2021 Private Bin R163 (a number given originally by Günter) Cabernet Sauvignon.
Seven current release Nederburg wines also scored between 93 and 90 points in the Tim Atkin South Africa Report. The wine scoring 93, the 2023 The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest, is made in a style also pioneered in South Africa by Günter.
The full list:
Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards 2024
Double gold medals:
Nederburg Double Barrel Reserve 2022
Nederburg Heritage Heroes The Motorcycle Marvel Rhône-style red blend 2020
Nederburg Private Bin Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
Nederburg The Winemasters Edelrood 2022
Gold medals:
Nederburg Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
Nederburg The Winemasters Chardonnay 2023
Nederburg The Winemasters Grenache Carignan Rosé 2023
Tim Atkin MW SA Report 2024
93 points: Nederburg The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2023
92 points: Nederburg Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
91 points: Nederburg Private Bin Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
91 points: Nederburg The Manor House Chardonnay 2023
90 points: Nederburg The Anchor Man Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2023
90 points: Nederburg The Brew Master Bordeaux-style red blend 2020
90 points: Nederburg Heritage Heroes The Motorcycle Marvel Rhône-style red blend 2020