Top Performing Winery of the Year 2021
Topics: 2021, Platter's Guide, Top Performing Winery of the year
Platter's by Diners Club South African Wine Guide
Announce the Top Performing Winery of the Year 2021
Kleine Zalze Wines Achieve South Africa’s Highest Wine Accolade
Kleine Zalze Wines, the well-known and very popular landmark winery in Stellenbosch, have just been announced Platter’s Top Performing Winery of the Year for the 2021 guide. A remarkable seven wines achieving the top honours of Five Stars, saw them rise to the top against a very strong field of contenders.
Owner Kobus Basson is justly proud of his team, or what all on the property refer to as “the family”. “This is a ‘wow’ – being the Winery of the Year in Platter’s is huge for us. We have the highest respect for the Platter’s Guide and this is why we cherish the moment and the achievement. Platter’s is the best guide for South African wine by far and this is why we are extremely proud to be the Winery of the Year.”
Alastair Rimmer, the cellarmaster, is very proud to see their drive to evolution of the brand pay dividends: “It’s awesome! We’re super chuffed, this is as good as it gets! We are on a strong journey to evolve – we want to stay relevant and you need to go forward.” Referring to the new “Project Z” range of wines, three of which achieved Five Stars, he said: “This new group of wines are born out of this desire to evolve… and to improve all our ranges.” He adds that “we are Brand SA and we need the whole industry to focus on more premium wines and good price points for sustainability in the industry.”
Head winemaker RJ Botha could not contain his excitement: “This is probably one of those things that will happen once in my life… most wineries dream of becoming Winery of the Year! For us it’s been an amazing year, who would have thought 2020 would have a silver lining! What an amazing privilege to work for a family-owned business in Stellenbosch – we love this place. There is a massive team here, everybody plays a key role, so my big thanks to everybody, to the whole Kleine Zalze team. We are all super proud!”
Editor of Platter’s South African Wine Guide, Philip van Zyl, made the important point in describing Platter’s Winery of the Year 2021: “It’s remarkable that this Stellenbosch estate was a neglected corporate-owned cellar and vineyard only 25 years ago... now the wines are superlative and rather brilliantly taking on the avant-garde at its own game. Their strong commitment to sustainability, including the creation of local community opportunities and sound ecological management here, is highly commendable.
All Platter’s 2021 ratings and results are now available for subscribers. To subscribe and view them now click here.
Also watch our video clip on our Facebook page where we interview the Kleine Zalze team and explain the Platter’s tasting method.