The year’s best South African wines were again in the limelight at the prestigious 2019 Veritas Awards. For Alto Wine Estate the excellence of the Alto Rouge was re-affirmed, by being awarded a Gold medal for the 2017 vintage.
As the longest running and biggest competition in South Africa, Veritas has earned its reputation as one of South Africa’s most authoritative and credible competitions for market-ready wines. Wines are tasted blind by panels that consist of local and international experts. The winners were announced at a black-tie gala dinner hosted at the CTICC in Cape Town.
“It is always humbling to have our wines acknowledged by competitions such as the Veritas Awards,”says Alto winemaker Bertho van der Westhuizen.“The competition is among the most widely recognised and trusted indicators of quality in South African wine today.”
“The achievement of the Alto Rouge is particularly special to us. Priced at our lowest tier, Alto Rouge’s consistent awards demonstrate the wine’s exceptional value and how high we set the bar on quality.”
Indeed, Alto Rouge is the sum of the estate’s history, sublime terroir, passion and meticulous craft–a legendary blend of Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot.
Stretched out along the steep northern slopes of the Helderberg, it has built a reputation for over a century as one of South Africa’s most respected red wine producers. Alto owes its success to meticulous viticulture and attentive wine making practices–applied by only a handful of long-serving winemakers.
The ocean is the source of the soothing afternoon breezes that slows ripening in the fruit and develops flavour. But climate is not everything. Generations of observation and know-how matched the best varieties with the aspect and soils. Today, few regions have produced as many iconic wines, which is why it is geographically famous as the Golden Triangle.
Alto is located on the Annandale Road off the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West. Here, heritage and tradition, coupled with evolution and innovation have become hallmarks of the estate.
Alto is part of the newly formed Libertas Vineyards and Estates company, custodian of premium wine brands from across the Cape.For more information about Alto and its wines, visitwww.alto.co.za, emailinfo@alto.co.za, call 021 881 3884 or make contact on Facebook @AltoWinery or via Twitter @AltoWines