MUSGRAVE Crafted Spirits has clinched two awards at the 2021 Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards held in Cape Town this October. Musgrave Copper Black Honey won the trophy for Most Innovative Product, while Musgrave Copper Vanilla took home a gold medal.
Musgrave, famous for its craft gin, launched two new pot-still brandy infusions into the market in 2018. Since then, it’s been racking up awards. The Copper Vanilla and Copper Black Honey both won gold at the SA Women’s Wine and Spirits Awards in 2019, and then earlier in 2021, Platter’s Wine Guide gave the Copper Vanilla 4 stars and the Copper Black Honey 4 ½ stars.
According to Michelangelo’s technical director, Dr Winnie Bowman, this year’s spirits categories presented a lot of out-the-box thinking with truly South African products and eye-catching packaging despite a tough year for the industry. A total of 1890 wines and spirits were entered this year, including entries from countries in Eastern Europe as well as Australia, Switzerland, Kenya, Zambia, Namibia, and the UK.
“It’s such an honour to have our Copper so well received by the judges this year and to be acknowledged in this way,” said Simone Musgrave, founder, and owner of Musgrave Crafted Spirits. “When I first launched, I wanted to shake up the industry and create a new genre that remixes the brandy category to play where Cognac has feared to tread. I also wanted to attract consumers who existed beyond the preconceptions of gender, age, or race. This award encapsulates the true essence of what drives us to develop brands that will disrupt and challenge the status quo. I think we can say it’s been a success.”
Copper is luxurious and made to mix. It’s a subtle flavour-infused brandy with a distinctly African palate. Musgrave Copper is more aligned to the Cognac drinker than to a traditional brandy drinker, and embraces a “remixing tradition” bringing together some of the African continent’s most celebrated ingredients. With access to a winter honey, collected by local communities within the national parks of Zambia, and vanilla from the Indian Islands around the coast of Africa, the blend makes for a sumptuous infusion that has elevated Musgrave Copper to the next level.
