Three competitions, one remarkable season for Diemersdal

The Diemersdal wine awards 2026 season has brought a remarkable run of recognition, with a National Champion from the newly harvested 2026 vintage, a thirteenth Absa Pinotage Top 10 title and an impressive set of scores in Tim Atkin MW’s latest South Africa Report.

Each result carries its own significance. Together, they reflect the strength of the vineyards, the experience of the cellar team and a willingness to keep exploring what is possible from Durbanville and beyond.

A national title for Diemersdal Shiraz

At the 2026 South African Young Wine Show, Diemersdal’s wooded Shiraz was awarded the Burgoyne Trophy as SA Champion Shiraz.

The estate also secured both national Shiraz class trophies: the J.A. Meyer Trophy for Shiraz and the C.W.H. Kohler Trophy for Wooded Shiraz.

Unlike competitions centred on bottled wines already available to consumers, the Young Wine Show judges wines from the current harvest while they are still developing in the cellar. The results offer an early indication of the quality and character of the vintage, making the national Shiraz title an encouraging sign for Diemersdal’s 2026 red wines.

The South African Young Wine Show has a history stretching back to 1833. First presented by the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society, it is the oldest wine show in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the oldest competitions of its kind in the world.

Diemersdal has a proud history at the show. The estate has won the General Smuts Trophy for the overall SA Champion Young Wine three times: with a wooded Sauvignon Blanc in 2013, a wooded Shiraz in 2022 and a wooded Cabernet Sauvignon in 2024.

The national result followed a strong performance at the inaugural Cape Town Young Wine Show, where Diemersdal received four regional trophies for its wooded Cabernet Sauvignon, wooded Shiraz, Grüner Veltliner and wooded red blend.

For a cellar team working with wines only months removed from the vineyard, these awards are an important affirmation of the decisions made throughout the growing season and harvest.

A thirteenth Absa Pinotage Top 10

Pinotage remains central to Diemersdal’s red wine story, and the 30th Absa Pinotage Top 10 competition brought another significant result for the estate.

Three Diemersdal wines progressed to the Top 20:

• Diemersdal Pinotage 2025
• Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2023
• Diemersdal The Journal Pinotage 2024

From this trio, The Journal Pinotage 2024 was selected as one of South Africa’s ten winners.

The result marks Diemersdal’s thirteenth Absa Pinotage Top 10 award and its third consecutive win in the competition. It follows Top 10 recognition for the Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2022 in 2024 and The Journal Pinotage 2022 in 2025.

Thirteen wins are not the achievement of a single vintage. They trace a much longer relationship with Pinotage and the steady evolution of the variety at Diemersdal.

The estate produces Pinotage across several expressions, from the bright, fruit-led character of Diemersdal Pinotage to the greater depth and structure of the Reserve and The Journal. Having all three represented in the 2026 Top 20 offered a particularly satisfying endorsement of this range.

The Journal Pinotage sits at the pinnacle of that journey. Made in limited quantities, it is shaped by careful vineyard selection and a measured approach in the cellar. Its latest Top 10 title adds another chapter to Diemersdal’s long association with South Africa’s home-grown variety.

Fourteen wines recognised by Tim Atkin MW

Diemersdal’s performance in Tim Atkin MW’s 2026 South Africa Special Report brought the season’s broadest recognition.

Fourteen wines received scores of 91 points or higher, spanning Sauvignon Blanc, Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay, Barbera and Solderwyn. Diemersdal was also included as a Fourth Growth in Atkin’s annual classification of leading South African wine producers.

The highest scores went to three distinctive Sauvignon Blancs:

• Diemersdal Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2025 – 94 points
• Diemersdal The Globe Sauvignon Blanc 2024 – 94 points
• Diemersdal The Journal Sauvignon Blanc 2025 – 94 points

Five wines received 93 points:

• Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2024
• Diemersdal Private Collection 2023
• Diemersdal The Journal Cabernet Sauvignon 2024
• Diemersdal The Journal Pinotage 2024
• Diemersdal Wild Horseshoe Sauvignon Blanc 2025

A further five wines earned 92 points:

• Diemersdal OVP Chardonnay Reserve 2025
• Diemersdal Prospect Barbera 2024
• Diemersdal Prospect Sauvignon Blanc 2025
• Diemersdal Solderwyn NV
• Diemersdal Syrah 2025

Diemersdal Pinotage 2025 completed the line-up with 91 points.

The results are notable not only for the number of wines recognised, but for their breadth. Established Diemersdal wines stand alongside newer releases from the Prospect range, while classic cultivars share the list with wines shaped by less conventional winemaking.

Atkin described The Journal Sauvignon Blanc 2025 as “complex, layered” and “sappy, tangy and complete”. The wine combines Sauvignon Blanc with 7% Sémillon from a vineyard planted in 1994. Natural fermentation in Stockinger barrels and foudres, together with a portion fermented in clay amphorae, gives the wine texture and complexity while retaining the energy and freshness of its Durbanville origin.

Its 94-point score sits alongside equally strong results for The Globe Sauvignon Blanc and Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Although the three wines begin with the same grape variety, each follows a very different path in the cellar. Together, they show the versatility of Sauvignon Blanc and the role it continues to play at Diemersdal.

Diemersdal WIne awards 2026: A reflection of vineyard and cellar

Awards are moments in time, but the work behind them stretches across seasons.

The Young Wine Show result looks towards wines that are still taking shape. The Absa Pinotage Top 10 reflects a relationship with one variety built over many years. Tim Atkin’s report places the Diemersdal portfolio within the wider landscape of contemporary South African wine.

For the team at Diemersdal, these results are a welcome acknowledgement of work that begins in the vineyard and continues through every decision in the cellar. More importantly, they offer an encouraging view of where the estate’s wines are heading next.