The international wine-show season is underway, and the results of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2010 have just been announced.  Just under 7000 wines and spirits were judged this year (to put that in local context, the Trophy Wine Show judges about 1000 local wines, and Veritas sometimes approaches nearly double that - it is not  clear how many SA wines were entered here).

South Africa took sixth place overall with 80 medals (45 Silver, 33 Gold, 2 Great Gold). Spirits as well as wines are included in all these statistics. France was the overall winner with 606 medals (401 S, 191 G, 14 GG), though Spain, which came second got more Great Golds - 17. Then came Italy, Portugal and Chile.  The United States got one Gold medal, Australia 20 (and three Great Golds), pointing to the fact that different countries tend to target different international competitions.

For South Africa, Spier did particularly well, with five Golds and one Great Gold.

The full results are available on the Concours Mondial website.

These are the leading results for South African wine (there were also some for spirits):

Grand Gold

• Engelbrecht Els 2007
• Spier Private Collection Chenin Blanc 2008

Gold

• Almenkerk Sauvignon Blanc 2009
• Backsberg Pumphouse Shiraz 2007
• Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2009
• Boschendal Sauvignon Blanc Grande Cuvée 2009
• Douglas Green Chenin Blanc 2009
• Drostdy-Hof Chardonnay 2009
• Ernie Els 2006
• Fairview Shiraz 2008
• Hartenberg Sauvignon Blanc 2009
• Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009
• La Motte Chardonnay 2008
• Lourensford Winemaker's Selection Chardonnay 2009
• Naledi Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
• Nederburg Chardonnay Viognier 2009
• Remhoogte Estate Wine 2006
• Ridgeback Shiraz 2007
• Rust en Vrede 1694
• Rust en Vrede Single Vineyard Syrah 2007
• Saronsberg Chardonnay 2008
• Saronsberg Provenance Shiraz 2007
• Spice Route Malabar 2006
• Spier Creative Block 2 2009
• Spier Private Collection Chardonnay 2008
• Spier Private Collection Pinotage 2007
• Spier Private Collection Shiraz 2007
• Stormhoek Pinotage 2009
• (KWV) The Mentors Petit Verdot 2008
• (KWV) The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc 2009
• Villiera Traditional Bush Vine Sauvignon Blanc 2009