PRESS RELEASE
ULTRA VALUE WINE CHALLENGE RESULTS – 2025
A REMARKABLE SUITE OF FINE WINNING WINES!
THE 11th YEAR OF SA’s TOP VALUE COMPETITION. Wine lovers favourite read especially if buying on a budget. It is the annual ‘best buy’ list of great value delicious wines.
Value and quality rolled into one, these are the perfect wines for your everyday enjoyment. Proudly brought to you by SA’s long-standing ‘best value’ competition.
The Ultra Value Wine Challenge (UVC) identifies only the very best wines that sell for under R180 a bottle. It is that simple. That special first prize can be yours right now: The trusted list of best quality, best-priced wines in South Africa.
The UVC continues to be the firm industry favourite, chosen by value-driven high quality producers and vineyards.
Robin von Holdt reviews the 2024 Challenge:
General
‘Spoilt for numerous brilliant selections of delicious drinking treats, local wine lovers are once again about to be delighted. With summer already flourishing and holiday festive plans afoot, the timing is perfect. Our exciting list of mouth-watering treats offers a top-quality, budget conscious range of fine wines just for you. Crisp fresh whites, fruity reds, zesty wines full of life as well as serious wines with good structure. Then there are celebratory bubblies, lip-smacking rosés, together with a selection of really delicious sweet wines. A compelling array of vinous treasures are now on offer. Judges ensured winning wines will offer you the best value, high quality, line up possible. Aromatics and flavours bursting with enjoyment. All wines are cost-conscious treats, mostly between R60 – R90 a bottle. Wine lovers can now celebrate in style without financial worry.
This price-conscious category enjoys maximum support both from family vineyards and big producers alike. The SA wine industry enthusiastically endorses this key principle of ‘price’. The Ultra Value Challenge supports wineries who have committed to fine quality without compromise and who do so at attractive prices. The UVC identifies best value wines according to this specific combination of wine quality and bottle price.
Now all stakeholders, especially you, can celebrate with delicious, value-for-money winners.
Our grateful thanks go to both loyal supporters as well as to first time entrants.
Our congratulations go to all of the producers of these fine award-winning wines. They always put maximum effort into making delicious wines at great prices. Well done!’
Quality
‘Friendly styles remain the benchmark. Ripe fruit, freshness and a reduced use of oak. Judges again endorse views that better vineyard practices continue, thereby enhancing better quality of fruit. Tasting these wines was generally a pleasing experience with some excellent sets of results. As is always the case, a number of wines simply did not pass the required quality threshold’
Judging
‘The highly experienced judges assessed each and every wine with care and diligence. Wines were always tasted ‘blind’ and in flights of similar wines. Judging panels sought positives without dropping standards of rigour and vigilance. Even-handed scoring is at the core. The definitive and fine set of results are now launched today for the first time. These showcase the judgment and ability of the team to find the best quality-best value wines in South Africa right now. Wine lovers, please access this fine list and enjoy now!
Super wines have been identified. Winning wines gained the judges recognition and support. A terrifically enjoyable line-up, many are really unmissable.
The initial hurdle is always to identify top quality above all else. A number of wines did not pass this test. Then an algorithm is applied that takes price into account, in order to arrive at the value-adjusted final result.
Double Gold, Gold and Silver medal victories go to special wines only. They are truly deserved.
Winning wineries and their tremendously skilled teams will be justifiably proud of their stellar achievements. Awards were confirmed by the independent review process. These are now the definitive 2025 best value wine results.’
Judges comments
Sauvignon Blanc comment: A strong class, 2025 showing its promise. A more tropical spectrum than green. Nice citrus flavors.
Cabernet Sauvignon comment: An interesting collection. Nice concentration of a few well judged oak & extraction. 2025 showing lots of promise already.
Merlot comment: A few good examples, some showing early development. One very good example!
Red Blends comment: A Better representation than single varieties, showing the art of blending. A delightful pair of Bordeaux Blends and interesting other red blends, showing great promise.
Chenin Blanc comment: Delightful flight. Fresh, crisp and good yellow fruit character. Better weight and less dilute than in the past.Good fruit expression, aromas & fruit on the midpalate. One very pleasant 2024 example.
Sweet comment: A flight of different examples. Some were extremely floral & attractive without being over the top with sugar. Always more impressive than expected.
Merlot comment: A few good examples, some showing early development. One very good example!
Rosé comment: The best very much from 2025. A varietal line up with beautiful colours. The very best were some lighter styles with focussed fruit. Older vintages not performing as well.
Statistics
UVC applies stringent judging criteria. These are often tougher than what you find applied at International levels. This means that usually under 50% of entered wines achieve an award. The prestige of each award granted is acknowledged without question. Today we launch another fine set of results. Of all the wines entered, rigorous judging saw 18% of wines gain Double Gold Medal awards. Gold Medals were awarded to 60% of wines while Silver Medal awards went to a meagre 19%. Always firmly judged and without favour, well-earned and well deserved awards went to the best.
Double Gold Awards
Scores achieved were all above 90/100 with the highest scores this year being both a Chenin and a Sauvignon Blanc. They each achieved a remarkable 97/100. A total of 23 wines gained this prestigious Award. 13 red wines and only 7 white wines. Then 2 rosé wines plus a single win for Semi Sweet categories.
Red wines: 6 Red Blends lead the charge followed by 2 Pinotage wines.
White wines: Sauvignon Blanc stole a march this year gaining 6 Awards. 4 Chenin Blanc wines gained awards while Sauvignon Blanc gained 2 awards.
Gold Awards
The Gold Award category winning wines achieved a score of between 82 and 90/100, a very solid performing contingent.
A total of 81 Awards were allocated this year. Red wines achieved 27 of these while white wines gained 31 wins. Next up were sweet wines gaining a total of 6 Awards. Semi Sweet achieved 6 wins. Rosé and Rosé sparkling wines both achieved 4 wins each. Sparkling MCC categories achieved a further 3 wins.
Red wines: Pinotage again swept line honours with 7 victories. Cabernet achieved 6 Awards; Shiraz managed 5 Awards with Cabernet taking home a total of 4 victories. Red blends and Merlot achieved 3 awards each.
White wines: It was Sauvignon Blancs turn to trump the pack with 12 Awards. Chenin Blanc followed with 9 wins. Chardonnay managed credible 4 Awards this year.
Silver Awards
Award credits went to just 22 participating wines. 6 Awards were won by red wines while 7 Awards went to white wines. Sweet wines achieved 5 wines and semi sweets achieved 1 award. Sparkling wines gained 3 wins..
Pinotage managed 2 wins in the red wines category, others just 1 each.
Sauvignon Blanc achieved 4 wins while Chenin Blanc achieved 2 wins in the white wines category.
Overall Awards
The 2025 Ultra Value Wine Challenge overall award allocation was as follows:
Red wines just took line honours once more with a total Award count of 46. White wines gained 45 awards. Sparkling wines were awarded 11 medals altogether, tying with the sweet wine category which also achieved 11 awards. Semi sweet wines achieved 8 awards while Rosé won 6 awards.
Major award winners won by cultivar:
Red Wines: Pinotage took the podium with 13 Awards in total. Then Red Blends achieved 10 Awards. Cabernet and Shiraz both achieved 8 wins. Merlot managed 5 awards.
White wines: This category was dominated by Sauvignon Blanc with 18 victories, followed by 15 wines for Chenin Blanc. Chardonnay managed a credible 5 Awards