Competition
South Africa's top ten Sauvignon Blancs judged on screen rather than on paper, with an analysis that outlives the ranking.
The FNB Sauvignon Blanc SA Top 10 has established itself as a global benchmark in recognising the very best Sauvignon Blancs from South Africa. The 19th edition, held from 26 to 28 August 2025 at Bontevlei in Stellenbosch, brought together 167 wines from 98 producers, evaluated by a jury of experts chaired by Dr Carien Coetzee.
Since its inception, the FNB Top 10 has become an essential platform for South African winemakers. Beyond the medals, it is widely recognised for its pivotal role in elevating Sauvignon Blanc on the international stage, offering producers a powerful opportunity for visibility and growth.
For this edition, the organising team relied on Tastee throughout the process, from preparing the tastings and managing the event to conducting in-depth analysis of the results.
The preparation of the tasting series was carried out smoothly and efficiently thanks to Tastee. The organisers were able to create their flights directly on the platform with Session, add the wines, and assign the tasters in just a few clicks. This fully digitalised process saved valuable time while significantly reducing the risk of errors associated with manual handling.
A key aspect was the management of wine anonymity. All samples were made completely “blind” instantly using Tastee’s Blind Tasting feature, which hides the identity of wines with a single click. Each cuvée was assigned a unique identifier, either automatically generated by the platform or defined by the organisers according to their methodology. Once the tastings were completed, the true identities of the wines were just as easily revealed, ensuring full traceability and absolute impartiality.
Beyond efficiency, Tastee also enhanced the user experience: the intuitive interface allowed teams to organise and manage the event without technical complexity, while providing a seamless workflow for both organisers and judges.
“The digital platform provides immediate access to scores, making the process more transparent and efficient. It delivers valuable, data-driven feedback to winemakers to refine their styles, improve quality, and strengthen their positioning.”
Dr Carien Coetzee, Chair of the Jury
Accessible through Tastee’s intuitive online platform, each judge logs into the application and discovers the tasting programme assigned to them. Wines are organised into flights, fully anonymised and presented in a precise order to ensure blind, fair, and consistent evaluation.
Judges simply follow the interface, wine by wine. The simplified tasting sheet allows them to assign a score out of 100 and to freely write their own tasting note. This balance between standardised scoring and personal expression encourages both rigour and qualitative richness in the feedback.
On the organisers’ side, they have real-time visibility of the progress of the tastings. For each wine, they can track the scores awarded and the comments submitted by the judges. At each table, a jury president is appointed and given access to an instant synthesis of the results. This overview enables them to interact immediately with their panel, provide constructive feedback, and share a collective and reasoned interpretation of the table’s impressions.
One of the unique aspects of the FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 is its two-step process:
It was therefore crucial that the results from the first two days be immediately available to feed into the decisive third day.
Thanks to Tastee, scores and comments were collected, analysed, and synthesised in real time, ensuring a perfectly smooth workflow for the competition. Judges’ comments were further processed to generate a clear and precise sensory profile for each wine, particularly the finalists. These insights, delivered back to producers, serve both as a valuable technical report and as a communication tool to promote award-winning cuvées across the entire industry.
After three intense days of tasting, the competition identified the 20 best cuvées of the edition. Among these, the judges selected the 10 most outstanding wines, which make up this year’s Top 10.
Below are the lists of the 20 finalists and Top 10 winners.
The 20 finalists (in alphabetical order)
Top 10 winners (in alphabetical order)
Find more details about the award-winning wines, their technical sheets, organoleptic profiles, and where to buy them in the official FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 2025 booklet.
More information on the FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10
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