About Us
The Veritas Awards is the longest running and most prestigious wine and brandy competition in South Africa and is synonymous with excellence in wine and brandy.
The Veritas Awards started in 1991 and gives recognition to wines and brandies of exceptional quality and the distinctive Veritas symbol of excellence serves as an authoritative quality guideline for wine and brandy connoisseurs. Gold and Double Gold awards are of significant value to the wine industry as well, as it offers a prestigious image for the wine, winery and winemaker, brandy and brandy master’s and contributes to growth in sales. More than 120 international and local judges gather every year during September in the Cape winelands to judge the entries that cover the full spectrum of different styles and vintages. Wines and brandies are tasted blind by panels that consist of five experts judging 10 wines/brandies at a time.
South Africa is increasingly renowned for our exceptional standard and potstill brandy which can compete with the finest in the world and the inclusion of brandy is especially appropriate as 2010 has been earmarked as the year to celebrate South African brandy as the worlds finest, in the light of its continued stellar achievements at international wine and spirit competitions. Over the past years brandy has wowed numerous international panels of esteemed brandy palates called upon to judge brandies at various international wine & spirit competitions.
Furthermore it holds special significance to become part of a nationally-held competition as it speaks to the South African consumer. The various brandy categories (standard, vintage and pot still) will be entered in their respective classes. As with the wines entries, the brandies will be judged by specialist panels according to the impeccable Veritas judging system.
The results are announced at a glittering gala dinner in Cape Town during October, often referred to as the “Oscars” of the industry. Following the awards announcement, tastings are held in the major cities in South Africa where the public, members of the trade and restauranteurs can taste the Double Gold and Gold winners.
Our History
The South African National Wine Show Association (SANWSA), that represents the full spectrum of the wine industry, was tasked at the end of the 1980’s to investigate a wine show aimed at the consumer.
The result was the introduction of the first National Bottled Wine Show in South Africa in 1990 and renamed the Veritas Awards from 1991.
In its first year in 1991, 96 wineries participated and 801 wines were entered with 74 Double Gold and 134 Gold wines. Five years later the entries hit the 1 000 mark and by 2007 there were 327 participants and 1 904 wines were judged.
Brandy was added as a category in 2010 to also award the finest standard and pot still brandies of world class standards that are produced in South Africa.
Veritas celebrated 25 years of excellence in 2015 with 1 863 wines entered and Double Gold and Gold winning wines brandies. As the longest running and biggest competition in South Africa, the Veritas Awards has earned its reputation as one of South Africa’s most authoritative and credible competitions for market ready wines and is backed by a stringent judging system. The Awards with its coveted Veritas emblem, has become synonymous with top quality wines. The results are trusted implicitly when international as well as local wine buyers use them to assist in their buying decisions and also when the ordinary wine lover simply selects a bottle from the shelf to enjoy with dinner.
Veritas is the only wine competition in South Africa for the industry by the industry and there is no commercial gain for the organisers, the South African National Wine Association (SANWSA).
The Veritas website features a comprehensive list of results dating back to the start of the competition as well as a useful search facility. This has great significance to follow the success story of the hundreds of participating wineries since the inception of Veritas.
Living Legends
Veritas chooses to honour these legends by means of this special award so as to thank them for their invaluable contribution towards growing and promoting the industry.
The honour of being hailed a legend goes to prominent retired wine makers, viticulturists, industry leaders, wine writers, wine ambassadors and wine personalities who have, through their passion for wine and brandy, contributed to the creation of a vibrant and dynamic industry.
The first awards were made in 2009, when the SA industry celebrated 350 years since the fist wine was made in the Cape.
Young Wine Writers of The Year Competition
The Veritas Young Wine Writer competition is presented annually by the South African National Wine Show Association (SANWSA). The first competition was held in 2013.
Previous Winners
| YEAR | Winner | Runner-up | Best Blog / Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Margaux Goosen | Jenna Higgins | Clint Van Heerden |
| 2022 | Shandre Van der Merwe | Petri De Beer | N/A |
| 2021 | N/A | N/A | Ines de Sousa |