JUDGING for the 2011 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, considered by many to be the country’s premier wine competition, took place at Grande Roche in Paarl last week.
Nine panelists, working in groups of three (including one international judge on every panel), made their way through the 1 062 submissions from 225 producers, with Michael Fridjhon as show convenor.
Old Mutual, the main sponsor of the competition since its inception, sees great value in a process which identifies the country’s top wines and in making this information available to the South African wine drinking public. Recognising the importance of the rigorous judging, Old Mutual takes the top wines on a national roadshow to seven cities to introduce them to discerning wine lovers.
Meticulous attention to detail throughout the process is part of how the Trophy Wine Show maintains its reputation as one of the toughest events of its kind in the world..
Submissions are kept in Miele wine storage units so that they can be brought to the judges at optimum temperature in Riedel tasting glasses.
Judges never see the bottles or any aspect of the packaging. This ensures that their opinions are based on the wine’s merits rather than on its image or reputation. The three panels must produce a consensus-driven result.
All the wines remain on the tasting bench until the completion of the judging of a particular class. This enables the jury to back-taste and to compare the evolution of the wine in the glass.
The panel’s result is then submitted to the scrutiny of the show chairman and, in the case of the gold medal winners, to all their fellow tasters at the Trophy judging which takes place on the final day.
The results will be announced in Cape Town on 1 June. A public tasting in Cape Town will take place at the CTICC on Thursday, 9 June (17:00 to 20:30). Tickets are available at Computicket at www.computicket.com and cost R100 if purchased by 5 June, or R120 thereafter.
