SA Lanzerac wins gold in Brussels

Ray Smuts THE COMPETITIVE edge of South African wines - Lanzerac in this instance - has yet again come up trumps, winning a gold medal for its 2000 Classic, the estateÕs flagship red blend, at the recent Brussels Monde Selection. The way Wynand Hamman, winemaker at the Christo Wiese-owned Stellenbosch estate, describes the product it sounds more like a to- die-for dessert: ÒMulti-faceted with layers of black and red berry aromas, hints of currants and cacao on the nose and mouth-filling flavours of berries and chocolates that linger on the aftertaste." So keen has UK and European interest been in this superlative product - based on barrel tastings - that agents planned well in advance of the release to secure stock. ItÕs not the only Lanzerac product to enjoy significant foreign support, British supermarket chain Waitrose having also bought the '97 Cabernet Sauvignon, while the '99 Merlot (highly rated by wine fundi John Platter) was snapped up by Systembolaget, the government-run body that manages all liquor retail outlets in Sweden. Classic 2000 does not come cheap, but if you have that kind of spending power it sells for around R95,70 a bottle.