Cape Legends backs hospitality project to build skills
Friday, 31 May, 2013
Cape Legends
Cape Legends, Distell’s fine wine division whose portfolio of award-winning wines from the Cape stretches from Tulbagh to the Southern Cape, is backing the début Inter Hotel Challenge aimed at promoting mentorship and advancing the transfer of skills within the Western Cape hotel and tourism industries.
Cape Legends is donating wine and prizes and funding the overseas travel of the challenge winner to support the social responsibility initiative that is being run by the South African Chefs Academy (SACA) and Showcook.com.
The challenge involves a line-up of top, luxury Western Cape hotels and their executive chefs and sommeliers or wine ambassadors who are supporting and mentoring candidate chefs and wine stewards to create optimal wine and food pairings. These are currently being introduced at individual lunches organised by each participating hotel.
Judges evaluating the pairings are Marilyn Cooper, the CEO of the Cape Wine Academy; chefs Paul Hartmann and Brian McCune, both members of SACA; Marieta Human of the Western Cape Pork Producers’ Association, accomplished sommelier Higgo Jacobs, and Cape Legends’ Wine Ambassador, Carolyn Miller-Krogh.
The food and wine combinations they select will be presented and judged at the finals, an intensive two-day cook-off at the South African Chefs Academy in Cape Town, on August 28 and 29.
The winning food and wine partnership will be announced at an exclusive black-tie charity event at the Vineyard Hotel & Spa on September 26, with the proceeds shared equally amongst StreetSmart SA, Our Kids of the Cape and Friends of ARO Outreach.
In addition to the return flight to Bangkok for the winning trainee chef, Cape Legends is donating the wines for all the pairing and judging events, as well as for the black-tie charity finale dinner at the Vineyard Hotel & Spa. The prestige portfolio of wines is also donating wines and experiences that will be raffled in aid of the three charities. These include a case of Desiderius MCC, an overnight stay at the beautiful Plaisir de Merle wine estate situated between Paarl and Franschhoek, as well as a wine blending experience with winemaker Guy Webber of Stellenzicht Wine Estate