10 wines had to be identified, each wine earning 10 points for the cultivar, 6 points for the country, 5 points for the origin, 3 points for the producer and 2 points for the vintage. Tasting Vinitubes sent to them, 17 finalists, including the best taster of Zimbabwe, Tongai Joseph Dhafana as a guest, had 8 minutes per wine to identify the sample.
After an exciting challenge organised on Zoom to guarantee the fairness of the competition, Danielle le Roux and Chris Groenewald achieved the impressive score of 133 points, followed by Anita Streicher-Nel, Dr Gavin Smith and Heidi Kritzinger to make the top 5 of this South African Championship 2021.
There will be no official Team South Africa 2021 due to the current difficulties to travel to the World Championship in France on the 2nd of October 2021, but these five candidates are already qualified for the 2022 finals that will select Team SA 2022.
The wines served blind were:
- South Africa, Chardonnay, 2020, Elgin, Paul Cluver
- New Zealand, Sauvignon Blanc, 2016, Malborough, Cloudy Bay
- Austria, Gruner Veltliner, 2018, Wachau, E. Knoll
- South Africa, Chenin, 2020, Stellenbosch, L'Avenir
- South Africa, Muscat 60% / Chenin 40%, 2019, Western Cape, Nederburg
- South Africa, Pinotage, 2019, Stellenbosch, Radford Dale
- Spain, Tempranillo, 2013, Rioja DOca, La Rioja Alta
- USA, Pinot Noir, 2015, Williamette Valley, Louis Jadot
- France, Syrah, 2017, Croze Hermitage, Chapoutier
- South Africa, Merlot, 2016, Stellenbosch, De Trafford.
The winners will receive wine sponsored by the wineries supporting the SAWTC.
This edition of the SAWTC was organised in partnership with Vinitube, TOPS at SPAR Wine Show, CellarDirect and WINE.CO.ZA
Watch the Finals below: