SA wines on the right track, say judges
2009-05-14
Lise Beyers
SOUTH AFRICAN wines seem to be taking a step in the right direction. This was the general consensus after the completion of last week’s strenuous judging for this year’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. The judging took place once again at the Grande Roche in Paarl, during which a panel of nine judges from across the globe, worked their way through 1155 wines from 257 producers, in merely four days. Included in the panel of judges were Michel Brettane, one of Fran-ce’s leading wine critics and journalists, Brian Croser, an innovator in the Australian wine industry for the past 35 years, and Julia Harding, who works in London for well-known wine connoisseur, Jancis Robinson, as a writer. Local judges included Gary Jordan, owner/winemaker of Jordan Winery, and wine writer, Angela Lloyd. The Old Mutual Trophy is regarded as one of the best and most informative wine competitions, identifying the country’s top wines and making this information available to the South African wine drinking pu-blic. Once the awards are announced, a series of public tastings will be taking place in six major centres across the country. The show’s rules and guidelines cover certification requirements, the market-readiness of the wines and the composition of the blends. Technical issues are managed by the show chairman, Michael Fridjhon, while show logistics and tasting arrangements are undertaken by show manager, Celia Gilloway. It was once again evident that white wines are by a nose length ahead of reds, receiving 11 gold medals, to the seven of reds wines. This was also made clear during the feedback session, when judges described many of the reds as disappointing and harsh, with the exception of Shiraz, which was once again praised. More work needs to be done both in the vineyards and cellars to bring Merlot and Cabernet Franc to their true form. The quality and aroma of Sauvignon Blancs and Chenin Blancs were highly praised, with the exception of over-wooded specimens. Many of the judges maintained that South Africa has such a broad spectrum of areas for planting vineyards, which have not yet been discovered. Another interesting statistic which arose during judging, was that the trend towards screw-caps was slowly but surely growing in the South African wine industry. The results of the competition will be announced in Cape Town on 1 June. See www.trophywineshow. co. za.
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