A wooded Ruby Cabernet from Badsberg in the Breedekloof near Worcester, clinched the coveted General Smuts Trophy as overall SA Champion Young Wine for 2020, after also being crowned as the best entry in the category Other Red Cultivar at this year’s SA Young Wine Show. It was the third time that Badsberg walks away with the big General Smuts Trophy as overall winner, after they also achieved this in 2016 with a wooded Pinotage, and in 2009 with Natural Sweet Wine. This annual show for wines of the current vintage year – presented by the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) in collaboration with Agri-Expo – took place later than usual this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the second time in the competition’s 188-year existence, the oldest of its kind in the world, that a Ruby Cabernet takes the laurels, as the 69th winner of the General Smuts Trophy. The previous time was in in 2012. The competition’s 19 SA Champion trophies in total, including the Pietman Hugo Trophy for the best points achieved with five entries, have just been announced in the broad media. The customary gala dinner, where the trophies are handed over, has not been held this year as a result of the Covid-19 realities. Altogether 40 wines achieved Class Winner status and 74 received Gold Medals. In a unique result, two cellars, namely Robertson Winery and Wellington Wines, shared the Pietman Hugo Trophy – which is awarded to the winery scoring the highest total points for its best five wines. They finished head to head with total points for their best wines.