Rosé wine is one of the fastest growing categories in the wine world. Between 2007 and 2014, rosé wine sales in South Africa trebled. The Rosé Rocks competition started 3 years ago, and last year our 2016 Den Pinotage Rosé was in the Top 11 of the competition. The Pinotage Association runs two competitions each year for the advancement and promotion of the pinotage grape, South Africa’s signature red grape. We have been winners in both of them. In 2012, Guillermo Swartland Pinotage 2009 (arguably one of our most acclaimed wines) was a winner in the ABSA Perold Top 10 Pinotage Competition. Then two years later, we were thrilled to have our Peloton Rouge 2011 make it to the Top 5 in the Perold ABSA Cape Blend Top 10 competition.This year the Pinotage Association acknowledged the popularity of pink wines, and opened up a new competition allowing wine makers to submit a Pinotage Rosé wine for judging. The Den Pinotage Rosé is a top dog and we gain a hat trick. Den Pinotage Rosé 2017 was a recipient of the 2017 Pinotage Rosé Award of Excellence, which made us all pink with pleasure. The two other winners were: Riebeek Cellars Pinotage Rosé 2017 and Rooiberg Pinotage Rosé 2017 De Wet Viljoen, vice-chair of the Pinotage Association said: “The winning Rosé wines are refreshing and of great quality, reiterating the vision to incorporate and support various styles and market stakeholders.” The judges: Jacques Roux (experienced judge and marketing director of DGB), Fred Viljoen and Johan Malan (proprietors and cellarmasters at Viljoensdrift and Simonsig respectively), Susan Erasmus (previously winemaker at Vrede en Lust and now at Laffort SA), Brad Gold (Cape Wine Master and head of marketing at Oak Valley) and Marené de Beer (winemaker at Altydgedacht). Winning this award makes Painted Wolf Wines the first wine producer to have won all three competitions run by the Pinotage Association. The awards lunch was held on October 4th 2017 at the Overture Restaurant at Hidden Valley Wines in Stellenbosch. Photos from the event, courtesy the Pinotage Association.To see everyone who attended the event as well as shots of the fantastic food, have a look at the Pinotage association’s facebook album here