FAIRTRADE WINS AWARDS AT THE 2012 MICHELANGELO WINE AWARDS
18.09.2012 - Participating at the prestigious Michelangelo CCL Label International Wine Awards (MIWA) for the second year, Fairtrade wines competed for the two Best Fairtrade Wine Trophies. Fairtrade wines also won a sea of gold and silver medals at the awards.
Winning the title of the Best Fairtrade Wine in the red category was the Palesa Merlot 2011 - marketed by the uniWines Group. This wine was also awarded with a gold medal in the broader Michelangelo competition. The trophy for Best Fairtrade White went to Stellenrust Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2011. This wine was also among the 44 other wines to be honoured with a Gran D'Or (double gold) medal. Stellenrust wines were most recently famed for supplying two of the three official wines of the London 2012 Olympics.
Sponsored by Pick n Pay, the Fairtrade Trophies award Fairtrade certified wineries for their distinction in making excellent wines that adhere to the highest social and environmental standards. Bronwen Rohland Pick n Pay’s Director of Sustainability and Marketing said, “Pick n Pay is proud to be the sponsor of the Fairtrade Wine Trophies. Our commitment to Fairtrade is driven by Pick n Pay’s view that doing good is good business. Apart from promoting Fairtrade we also recognise that our customers wish to be able to purchase as large a range of Fairtrade products as possible. We congratulate the winners of the Michelangelo Awards and look forward to seeing them on our shelves soon.”
In addition to the Fairtrade Trophies, Fairtrade wines won a number of other medals at the awards:
GOLD MEDAL WINNERS
Deetlefs Estate Pinotage 2011
Stellenrust Timeless (last year’s MIWA’s best Fairtrade red)
SILVER MEDAL WINNERS
Koopmanskloof’s Sauvignon Blanc 2012
Koopmanskloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Thandi Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Thandi Sauvignon Blanc 2012
Thandi Shiraz 2011
Palesa Husk Spirit 2009
“The list of awards makes us very proud of our Fairtrade wineries as it proves that it is possible to combine the tradition of excellent wine-making with the current demand for sustainable and socially sound practices. We have no doubt that this achievement will be acknowledged not only in the local market through the support of Pick n Pay, but also internationally. After all, South Africa is the largest producer of Fairtrade wines in the world, with almost 8 million litres exported in 2011 alone” says Arianna Baldo, Business Manager of Fairtrade Label South Africa.
Download the full press release: Fairtrade Wines Bag Multiple Awards at the 2012 MIWA Awards (Pdf, 398Kb)
For more information on Stellenrust Wines, visit their website www.stellenrust.co.za
For more information on Palesa Wines, visit their website www.uniwines.co.za
To see the list of all the winners of the Michelangelo CCL Label International Wine Awards, visit www.michelangeloawards.com