Among all the wines presented at the Mercury Wine Week, competitors had to taste specific bottles from Adoro, La Vierge, Glen Carlou, Creation, Steenberg, Spier, Raka, Grande Provence, Spice Route, Sijnn, Thelema, Slanghoek and Welgemeend. The participant had to then identify wines served in anonymous decanted, marking points for cultivars, vintage, region of origin and winery.
The 7 wines served blind were:
- Thelema Sutherland Chardonnay 2012
- Slanghoek Chenin Blanc Private Selection 2015
- Spice Route Sauvignon Blanc 2014
- La Vierge Original Sin Sauvignon Blanc 2015
- Welgemeend Soopjeshoogte 2011
- Creation Merlot 2013
- Sijnn Red (Syrah blend) 2009
The best tasters of the day made similar scores, so both win the Provincial title ex-aequo, automatically qualifying for the National Finals.
These 2 best tasters; Christine Andrews and Matthew Draper share the Top 5 Durban classification with Anton Swarts, Anton Kodt and Ivan Oertle.
Once audited, the final scores will determine who might be the other finalists for the National Finals, when they will face the best Cape Town and Johannesburg tasters at the Taj Hotel in Cape Town on the 13th of September.
The Durban Provincial has been the last selection process for the Restaurant Mosaic Protégé Program and the winner of the selection is Eric Botha who achieved a remarquable scores. He will now enter the final stage of the selection led by the Restaurant Mosaic Team, deciding who will fly to France on behalf of Mosaic, as a first step of a three year internship to become the Best South African Sommelier!
The proceeds of the 2015 Durban South African Wine Tasting Championships are donated to Mercury Hibberdene Childrens Home.