There was a pleasing combination of continuity and novelty evident when this year's Trophy WIne Show results were announced yesterday - and a few results to embarrass the organisers and judges. Continuity and the presence of famous names - there were plenty of them, and Tokara was the best-performing winery - are always reassuring for those organisers and judges. Eagle's Nest takes Best Red Wine for the second time in three years - that's consistency; Cape Point Vineyards takes a clutch of "Museum Class" trophies for wines that are presumably very much more alive than the idea of a museum actually suggests; Chamonix Chardonnay proves its class once more.

And novelty tells them they're on the ball and alert to the new: so, trophies for viognier and verdelho add interest. And the modern wave of coffee-infected wines enters the august ranks, with Vrede en Lust Mocholate Malbec. There don't seem to be any coffee pinotages getting medals, however, although "proper" pinotage performed in a way to delight the hearts of the True Believers, with four golds - the most glittering result for any red varietal category (Chardonnay got five golds). Somehow, on the other hand, Sauvignon Blanc 2009, one of the most trumpeted categories in recent history, did not please the judges much.

This year's competition produced 32 gold medals, 89 silver, and 329 bronze. Of course, if the top medal winners are plausible enough, as most of them are, they only tell half the story, as we are not told of the wines that did so poorly as to not get even a bronze (including, one presumes, Vergelegen White, which has rated gold in every year of the competition's history up to now, surely). And there are some surprises - two years ago Tokara White 2006 scored 95 points and won the trophy; entered in the Museum Class this year it rated only 77. It will raise a few more eyebrows to have Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1995 scoring 74 and the 2007 just 71 - but they're in good company with two vintages of Morgenster, Vilafonte Series C and Rustenberg John X Merriman. The triumph of blind tasting, one presumes, exposing the hollow pretensions of such wines. (The scores out of 100 are given in Icons, the "book of the show", which is given with the June issue of Wine magazine,which also has plenty of coverage of the results; they are also given, with all the results on the Wine website.)

The competition co-owner (together with Wine mag) and chair of the judging panel, Michael Fridjhon, commented in the press release: "The clear signs of an overall quality improvement at the top of the wine market - which we have seen for some time and on which we commented last year - continue to dominate these results. There has been a good spread of medals across several classes, with a better showing among red wines than at any time over the past five years. The pleasing improvement in Pinotage - long regarded as one of the least consumer-friendly categories - suggests that producers have taken to heart some of the criticism previously voiced about fruit handling. The wealth of medals - especially among the younger vintages - in the Shiraz class shows that producers are now coming to terms with the variety, and getting the most out of the more established vineyards."

The Trophy and Gold medal winners

• Most Successful Producer 2010: Tokara
• Best Red Wine Overall: Eagles' Nest Shiraz 2008
• Best White Wine Overall: Flagstone Word of Mouth Viognier 2008
• Discovery of the Show (Best Value): Pulpit Rock Reserve Chardonnay 2008
• Sparkling Wine:  Anura Brut 2008
• Cabernet Sauvignon:  Stark-Condé Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
• Shiraz:  Eagles' Nest Shiraz 2008
• Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2009
• Tokara Director's Reserve White 2008
• Neil Ellis Woolworths Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Reserve 2007
• Riesling: Klein Constantia Rhine Riesling 2009
• Rijk's Chenin Blanc with a Touch of Oak 2009
• Sauvignon Blanc (Unwooded):  Cederberg Sauvignon Blanc 2009
• Semillon: KWV The Mentors Semillon 2009
• Viognier: Flagstone Word of Mouth Viognier 2008
• Niche White Variety: Feiteiras Verdelho 2009
• Pinot Noir: Chamonix Reserve Pinot Noir 2008
• Pinotage: Tokara Pinotage 2007
• Malbec: Vrede en Lust Mocholate Malbec 2009
• Pinotage-based Red Blend: Kaapzicht Steytler Vision 2006
• Museum Class Sauvignon Blanc (Unwooded): Cape Point Sauvignon Blanc 2006
• Museum Class Chardonnay (Wooded): Chamonix Reserve Chardonnay 2005
• Museum Class Semillon: Cape Point Semillon 2005
• Museum Class White Blend (Wooded): Cape Point Isliedh 2006
• Museum Class Dessert Wine: Nuy White Muscadel 1988
• Museum Class Cabernet Sauvignon: Tokara Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Other gold medal winners:

• Cape Point Isliedh 2005
• Dunstone Shiraz 2008
• Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Chardonnay 2009
• Land of Hope Chenin Blanc 2008
• Lanzerac Pionier Pinotage 2007
• Manley Pinotage 2005
• Rijk's Reserve Chardonnay 2007
• Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Pinotage 2007
• Zonnebloem Laureat 2007

(Comment by Tim James)