Steenberg Magna Carta 2009 scores top rating in Decanter Magazine
Published: 17 May 2012
Leading Constantia winery, Steenberg Vineyards has added yet another accolade to its impressive roll of international recognition for the top quality wines produced here, this time with one of the world’s leading wine magazines, Decanter.
Steenberg’s iconic white blend, Magna Carta 2009, has scored an impressive rating of 18.5 on the current Decanter Expert’s Choice List, as one of only 20 wines to be selected by esteemed international wine consultant Nancy Gilchrist (MW) as her best ‘South Africa over $10’ wines. According to Gilchrist, the wines she selected all have one thing in common, based on the willingness of the winemakers to embrace both old and new wine making methods, and to apply them with tenderness, resulting in exceptional wines.
This follows shortly after Steenberg Vineyards was voted among the Top 20 wineries in South Africa by an independent panel of 29 wine professionals with different perspectives. They included five sommeliers, five retailers, four eminent critics from Britain, and 15 South African wine writers and judges, including Tim James who made special mention of Steenberg’s ‘age-worthy whites: excellent Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, not to mention the blends of the two’.
The Steenberg Magna Carta 2009 is an expression of the very best of its terroir and what Steenberg can produce, and it is this winery’s quality benchmark, setting the precedent for the standard of wine made here. In South Africa, both the maiden vintage Magna Carta 2007 and the Magna Carta 2009 scored a coveted John Platter 5-Star rating.
According to General Manager at Steenberg Vineyards John Loubser, the crown prince among the Steenberg range is their ‘great declaration of quality and elegance’, and underscores the successful working partnership between the Steenberg Vineyards team and winemaker JD Pretorius.
Like the first vintage, Magna Carta 2009 is a blend made up of 60% Sauvignon Blanc from the 21-year old reserve block, and 40% barrel-fermented Semillon. Featuring enticing aromas of orange blossom and tangerine, supported by a fresh minerality, this multi-layered wine’s balanced structure and firm body will delight with a rich but elegant feel on the palate, coating the mouth and flowing through into a lingering finish that begs to savour. It will complement a variety of elegantly prepared dishes from seafood to red meat, and can be enjoyed right now, or in 15 years’ time!
Testimony to the high demand for this outstanding wine, Magna Carta 2009, of which a limited vintage of only 3000 bottles was produced, is sold out.
Wine enthusiasts will be pleased to know that the 2010 vintage is due for release in September this year, while the Magna Carta 2011 will be released in March 2014, at which time it will have spent approximately one year in barrel, and two years in the bottle before its release, to maximize the huge ageing potential of this finely structured wine.