KWV takes the Pietman Hugo Trophy two years running
KWV is Best Producer at the 2026 SA Young Wine Show for a second consecutive year. Three national champion trophies sit beside five class wins, nine golds and 26 silvers.
A young-wine show is an early photograph of a vintage, not a finished bottle on a shelf.
Lifestyle & Tech reports KWV has won the Pietman Hugo Trophy — Best Producer at the SA Young Wine Show — for the second year running. The trophy goes to the producer with the highest combined score on its five best entries. It is KWV’s third Pietman Hugo overall, after 2015 and 2025.
Chief winemaker Justin Corrans said consecutive wins matter because the score is spread across several wines, not one star. The 2025 and 2026 harvests were different years; the cellar still showed the same discipline.
Three SA Champion trophies landed in 2026: wooded Sauvignon Blanc (John McDonald Trophy), a wooded Petit Verdot/Pinotage/Carignan blend (Vine Products Trophy), and wooded Petit Verdot (Stephan Smit Trophy). KWV also took the unwooded Chenin Blanc class. The tally is five class wins, nine gold medals and 26 silver. Sauvignon Blanc and the red blend kept titles they won in 2025.
The 2026 judging used 14 panels, 88 judges and 17 categories. The show dates to 1833 and tastes wines while they are still young, before most have finished ageing or reached shops.
Mini-concept: a producer trophy is a portfolio score. It is not the same as one gold sticker on one bottle.
A flavoured can has no young-wine bench. These tanks were judged before they were dressed for the shelf.
Remember: Pietman Hugo Trophy two years running.
Source: Lifestyle & Tech