The Pietman Hugo Trophy goes to the producer with the highest combined score across its five best entries. KWV's 2026 win is its third overall, following previous victories in 2015 and 2025.

Alongside the top producer honour, KWV picked up three national trophies:

• John McDonald Trophy — SA Champion Sauvignon Blanc (KWV Sauvignon Blanc, wooded)

• Vine Products Trophy — SA Champion Red Blend (KWV Petit Verdot/Pinotage/Carignan, wooded)

• Stephan Smit Trophy — SA Champion Other Red Cultivar (KWV Petit Verdot, wooded)

The producer also claimed a class win in the unwooded Chenin Blanc category, bringing its total for the year to five class wins, nine gold medals and 26 silver medals. Notably, KWV defended its 2025 national titles in both Sauvignon Blanc and Red Blend, adding the Petit Verdot win as a further red-wine accolade.

KWV Chief Winemaker Justin Corrans pointed to the value of winning the Pietman Hugo Trophy in consecutive years precisely because it reflects performance across a range of wines rather than a single standout entry, especially given how different growing conditions were between the two vintages.

Senior Winemaker (Red Wine) Izele van Blerk noted that the breadth of the results spanning multiple varieties and styles made the achievement particularly meaningful for the wider team, while Winemaker (White Wine) Kobus van der Merwe highlighted the difficulty of preserving freshness and varietal character in the 2026 whites, making the retained Sauvignon Blanc title especially notable.

Dating back to 1833, the SA Young Wine Show is one of the oldest wine competitions in the world and serves as an early benchmark for each new South African vintage, judging wines before most have completed maturation. The 2026 edition brought together 14 panels and 88 judges across 17 categories, assessing a harvest season described as technically demanding but ultimately promising, with strong colour development in reds and good flavour concentration overall.

With this result, KWV now holds its third Pietman Hugo Trophy in 11 years and back-to-back Best Producer titles in 2025 and 2026.