This year sees 1 763 wines entered with 290 participants contending. Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon occupy the top three categories with 229, 167 and 132 wines respectively. Bordeaux blends follow not too far behind with 120 entries. Each wine and brandy will be sniffed, swirled, tasted and given their verdict by more than 100 judges, seven representing international countries where many South African wines are sold.
UK-based Lynne Sherriff MW is one of the world’s most authoritative wine experts, the first South African Chairperson of the international Institute of Masters of Wine, and a qualified Cape Wine Master.
Rebecca Leung is an independent wine educator, journalist and consultant. She is one of Hong Kong’s most notable wine writers with her blog: Wine is Beautiful! In addition, her columns feature regularly in the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Wine Now Magazine, Wine Life (China) and Vino Vogue (China) to name a few.
Debra Meiburg MW based in Hong Kong is a key voice in the Asian wine trade. She judges at many wine competitions annually and co-founded the world’s first pan-Asian wine competition: the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition. She is also producer and host of Grape Moments, a series of one-minute wine tips broadcast via taxi cabs in China to 60 million viewers a month. She has worked in a number of South African cellars during the vintages.
Tersina Shieh, from Hong Kong, is a marketer turned winemaker who has made wine in the UK, Portugal, South Africa, China and New Zealand. Her mission is to promote wine culture in Hong Kong and China, inspiring the average consumer to appreciate and enjoy it in a no-nonsense way. She contributes to a number of wine editorials and has judged at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition.
Cees van Casteren MW is a Dutch vinologist, wine writer and Master of Wine since 2012. Cees has twice been named Dutch Vinologist of the Year and currently serves as Chairman of the Association of Vinologists, the main association in Holland for wine professionals As well as having written 10 books and some 500 articles on wine and food, he is a noted wine educator in the Netherlands and runs his own independent wine consultancy and training business.
Denis Lahouratate, cellar master at the French House of Bisquit Cognac, brings his expertise to the competition to judge the brandy entries. There are a total of 32 brandies in three categories – Standard, Potstill and Vintage – to be sampled this year.
Mark Pygott is studying for his Masters of Wine qualification as well as working as a wine educator, consultant and writer. He is based in Taiwan where he also assesses the country’s best sommeliers. His previous experience saw him as a specialised wine importer and distributor in the United Kingdom.
Dave Hughes, one of South Africa’s leading wine and spirits experts with extensive international experience, also joins the line up. Hughes is a stalwart on the South African wine scene, a highly proficient judge of wine and spirits. He also chairs a number of panels.
International judges must be experienced wine tasters in their home countries, but international experience is obligatory. Charles Hopkins, SANWSA chairperson, has stated, “these international panel members are all decision makers and experts with brilliant experience in the tasting of wines and brandies. For South Africa, this is a wonderful opportunity to create ambassadors of our wine to spread our wine message when they go back to their respective countries.”
The reputation and integrity of the judges that have been selected is without doubt of a particularly high standard. The team of judges consists of a variety of winemakers, researchers, academics, (Cape) Wine Masters, wine writers and consultants. Panels of seven judges will blind-taste the entries according to areas of expertise.
Scores are awarded according to the 20-point scale: 18 and above wins a double gold, 17 points scores gold and silver is awarded to a wine/brandy that secures 16 points. A bronze medal goes to a wine/brandy attaining 15 points.
Following the judging at Nederburg, the announcement of the medal winners will take place on 9 October 2015 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) at a dazzling event sponsored by Agri-Expo.
For more information, contact Anka du Toit at the Veritas office on: tel 021 863 1599, e-mail: admin@veritas.co.za or visit www.veritas.co.za
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Photo caption:
The international contingent of wine experts judging this year’s Veritas entries are: back left to right Mark Pygott (Taiwan), Dave Hughes (South Africa), Cees van Casteren MW (The Netherlands); front left to right Debra Meiburg MW (Hong Kong), Rebecca Leung (Hong Kong), Lynne Sherriff MW (UK) and Tersina Shieh (Hong Kong). Photographer: Andrew Gorman