Hot on the heels of last month’s success at the S.A. Young Wine Show, where Wellington Wines claimed both the A.I. Perold Trophy for Best Pinotage and the coveted General Smuts Trophy for Best Wine on Show for our 2026 Pinotage, we are delighted to share yet another remarkable Pinotage achievement: Wellington Wines’ La Cave Pinotage 2024 has been named one of the 2026 ABSA Top 10 Pinotage winners.

For us, this is an achievement with particular significance: it marks the tenth time La Cave Pinotage has earned a coveted place in the ABSA Top 10 – an exceptional record of consistency for one of Wellington Wines’ flagship wines.

And there could hardly be a more fitting year in which to reach this milestone.

Three decades of Pinotage excellence

The 2026 ABSA Top 10 Pinotage Competition marks its 30th edition, celebrating three decades of recognising and promoting outstanding examples of South Africa’s own grape variety.

Since the competition began in 1997, 300 wines have now received ABSA Top 10 honours – creating a remarkable record of the evolution of Pinotage and the vineyards, winemakers and producers who have helped shape its story.

This year, 112 wines from 59 producers were entered, with the final Top 10 representing six different Wine of Origin areas across the Cape.

Among them stands La Cave Pinotage 2024, Wine of Origin Wellington.

To see La Cave once again recognised among South Africa’s finest Pinotages, and to celebrate its tenth Top 10 award during the competition’s landmark 30th year, makes this an especially proud moment for everyone at Wellington Wines.

A proudly South African achievement

Pinotage is a variety with a story unlike any other. Created in South Africa, it has become an enduring expression of our country’s wine heritage, its vineyards and its winemaking talent.

For La Cave Pinotage to have earned Top 10 recognition on ten occasions is therefore about more than an impressive collection of awards. It speaks to years of commitment in the vineyard and cellar, and to the consistent pursuit of quality from one vintage to the next.

10 Top 10 awards.

30 years of the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition.

One proudly South African grape.

One La Cave Pinotage.

We raise a glass not only to our fellow winners, but also to our vineyard and cellar teams whose dedication continues to make achievements such as this possible.