The Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top Ten Challenge winners were chosen from close to 130 entries that were received from 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 vintages. Eight of the ten winners were 2023 vintage wines, while the remaining two were from 2022, with the retail pricing of the wines submitted ranging from R160 to R350 a bottle. Each winning wine walks away with prize money of R25 000, with the condition that it be directed towards an initiative benefitting the wine-worker communities involved. To date, Standard Bank has donated over R2,6m for community projects, from education and youth development to housing and health. Commenting on this year’s winning wines, judging chair Higgo Jacobs noted that entries for the challenge had come from 20 different origins. “Stellenbosch Wine of Origin was the clear winner, accounting for six of the top ten wines. What makes the achievement even more noteworthy is that Stellenbosch accounts for just 8% of South Africa’s 32 000 ha of Chenin Blanc vineyards.”