Veritas judging in full swing

Wednesday, 3 September, 2025

Veritas Awards

International and local judges are evaluating this year’s entries for the Veritas Awards, the most respected show for South African wine and brandy.

International judges with the Veritas team: Christo Pienaar – Chairman Veritas, Bernard Stramwasser (Canada), Treve Ring (Canada), Christine Austin (UK), Adero Achola (Kenya), Yoshiko Takahashi (Japan), De Wet Viljoen Chairman Technical Committee, Veritas and Bennie Howard Vice-Chairman Veritas

This week marks a major milestone of wine and brandy judging in South Africa as the finest palates of international and local judges are at work in evaluating this year’s entries for the Veritas Awards – the country’s oldest and most authoritative showdown for market-ready products of the vine 35 years since its inception in 1991.

A standout feature of this mammoth judging is the continued engagement of accomplished overseas judges by Veritas, which is made possible by a partnership with the Dry Ice International company that finances these experts’ visit to the country.

Led by CEO Deon Roux, Dry Ice International is the largest supplier and manufacturer of dry ice in South Africa. “Transforming cool grapes into fine wines is our motto and that motivates us to be a proud sponsor of Veritas 2025,” he says, emphasising the importance of reliability and speedy delivery of dry ice for the wine industry, particularly during the harvesting season. With almost 30 years of experience, the company boasts multiple manufacturing plants and an extensive in-house delivery network.

Said the chairperson of Veritas, Christo Pienaar, “It’s a pleasure to welcome our international judges to the Veritas Awards judging to share their expertise and knowledge with us. Their contribution to the strict judging process is most important to further support our claim to the high standard of judging.”

The international judges are Adero Achola, sommelier and wine buyer (Kenya); Christine Austin,wine writer and international judge (UK); Treve Ring,wine writer, editor, wine judge and speaker (Canada); Bernard Stramwasser, sommelier and importer (Canada); Yoshiko Takahashi,wine communicator, writer and educator,(Japan); and Joe Wadsack, British wine buyer and TV and radio presenter.

Altogether 18 experienced judging panels are gathered in the Pavilion hall at Nederburg in Paarl to identify the best from the more than 1200 entries for coveted Veritas medals and selecting the Duimpie Bayly Vertex Award winner as the top wine overall, named in honour of the late Duimpie Bayly, an undisputed legend of the industry.

The participating wines and brandies are being tasted over five days until Friday 5 September. The most keenly contested categories in terms of entries received are: Red Blends (150), Sauvignon Blanc (131), Chenin Blanc (112), Chardonnay (104), Pinotage (99), Cabernet Sauvignon (98) and Shiraz (84).

Christo Pienaar and De Wet Viljoen from Veritas with the team from Dry Ice International, Sponsor of the International Judges - Deon Roux, CEO and Hennie Louw, GM Western Cape

World’s first blind judge in local panel

The local judging team comprises winemakers, researchers, academics, wine buyers, wine writers, consultants and Cape Wine Masters (CWM’s). The latter group continues to play a significant role as independent judges, with no less than 15 CWMs in action over the five days.

Among their ranks is the first blind Cape Wine Master who qualified in South Africa, Jacques Lombard from Durbanville. He graduated two weeks ago and has joined the Chardonnay panel – thus making history for Veritas as the world’s first wine competition with a blind judge of wine master standard.

VinoVeritas for easy orders

Wine lovers will again also be able to order the Double Gold and Gold winners immediately following the announcement of the results on 11 October at a Gala dinner – known as the Oscars of the Wine Industry – for free delivery of 12 bottles or more ordered by Getwine on their doorstep. Wines can be ordered via VinoVeritas sponsored by CTP.

Countrywide tastings

Veritas and its partner, Deloitte, will present the wine tastings of the prestigious winners of the Veritas Double Gold and Gold wines in October and November in the main centres. “We are looking forward to share these top wines with our clients, the trade and the consumers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban,” says Ruwayda Redfearn, Deloitte Africa CEO.

The public tastings will be held at the Deloitte offices on Wednesday 22 October in Cape Town, Tuesday 28 October in Durban and Wednesday 5 November in Johannesburg. A tutored tasting of some of the award-winning wines will be held in Gqeberha on Wednesday 12 November.

Details of the tastings are on the Veritas website. Tickets are available on Quicket from 1 October.

Financial boost by two top suppliers

The Veritas Awards, now in its 35th year, is South Africa’s primary wine competition. Wine cognoscenti and consumers alike rely on a Veritas award as an unrivalled stamp of quality. This largely thanks to loyal financial support by industry suppliers like Unitrans, who is joining Nashua this year, the latter which has been a partner to Veritas in the past two years. Nashua and Unitrans are respectively office automation and supply chain solution companies.

“Nashua is honoured to partner with Veritas in support of the South African wine industry. As a proudly South African company, we recognise the significant value of this sector to our country's agricultural landscape and economy. We are committed to supporting the industry with leading technology solutions that prioritise our customers by helping them save time and money,” says Barry Venter, CEO, Nashua.

According to Unitrans CEO, Edwin Hewitt, “Unitrans, believes that excellence – whether in logistics or winemaking – starts with a commitment to quality, credibility and growth. Sponsoring the Veritas Awards reflects our drive to deliver tailored, high-impact solutions that help our customers grow. We’re proud to stand alongside South Africa’s finest award-winning wines, celebrating those who, like us, are continuously focused on operational excellence and meaningful progress.”

The big results evening

The glamorous awards presentation – known as the Oscars of the Wine Industry – will be held at the CTICC with the gala event on Saturday 11 October 2025.

About the iternational judges

Adero Achola is a noteworthy contributor to the Kenyan and international wine industry and the first judge from Africa other than South African judges. She currently works at WOW Beverages, one of the leading wine and spirits importers in Kenya as their lead sommelier and trainer. As an author she has since 2020 contributed pieces highlighting the industry in various countries. She has a WSET Level 3 in Wines and is also pursuing the WSET Level 3 in spirits. Ms Achola serves as Vice-President of the Kenyan sommelier associationand has been selected as a top sommelier to receive the WOSA Sommelier Symposium Training and has for the past three years been a member of Team Wine Kenya – an all-female team representing the country at the La Revue Du Vin’s World Blind Wine Tasting Championship.

Christine Austin is among a handful of international wine writers that can boast 25 years’ experience of wine writing for several publications. She has travelled to South Africa several times, publishing numerous articles on South African wine. She writes a prominent weekly column for The Yorkshire Post, the largest circulation newspaper in the North of England. Her Unique Web Views has 1.5 million views per month. She also writes a monthly column for iWeekend, a UK national newspaper, boasting a daily circulation of 266 000 and 5.5 million unique web views per month. She has judged for many international wine competitions, including Veritas and is currently Panel Chair at The International Wine Challenge in the UK.

Treve Ring is a wine writer, editor, judge and speaker – based on Vancouver Island, Canada. She is a certified sommelier, WSET diploma holder, Champagne Master, Wine Scholar Guild instructor and certified Sherry Instructor, and has been presenting on wine internationally since 2012.Treve began writing professionally in 2001. Her work has been published in World of Fine Wine, Meininger’s Wine Business International, Decanter, Wine & Spirits, Sommelier Magazine, Wine Enthusiast, WineAlign, The Alchemist, Quench Magazine, Vitis, Lonely Planet Travel and others. In addition to her role as Correspondent Anorak at WineAnorak, she is the executive editor and senior critic at Gismondi on Wine. Ms Ring tastes thousands of wines a year, and is an established senior wine judge in Canada, the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. While her travels take her all over the wine world, she has spent the last few years concentrating and researching sparkling wine globally.

Bernard Stramwasser is president and founder of Le Sommelier, a leading Ontario wine agency focussing on premium quality producers and wines around the world. The company, now in its 25th year, is one of Ontario's highest respected and regarded agencies. He is widely travelled, having lived in France, America, and Canada, and speaks numerous languages. His university studies and previous career in economics and investment was beneficial in building the company from scratch. He completed the rigorous International Sommelier Diploma certification in 2006, with honours, and is an active member of Ontario’s liquor industry, sitting on the board of directors of Grapes for Humanity since 2016. His portfolio is built on wineries which farm and produce wines sustainably, with a respect for terroir, and time.

YOSHIKO TAKAHASHI is the first judge from Japan to join the Veritas Awards. She has more than 20 years of extensive experiences in the wine business. She is a freelance wine communicator, writer, educator and interpreter and has been Japan Project Manager for Wines of South Africa since 2019. She has Judged at Concours Mondial de Brussels, the Japan Wine Challenge, the Royal Hobart Wine Show in Tasmania and at the Sakura Women's Wine Award. Ms Takahashi obtained the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wine and Spirits in 2016. She teaches the WSET courses in Japanese.

Joe Wadsack studied chemistry at Manchester University and obtained a winemaking diploma in Bordeaux. He was a buyer for the supermarket chains J Sainsbury and Waitrose and co-presented a TV show on BBC’s Food Channel, Great Wine Walks – taking him to South Africa, Australia and the fine wine districts of France – as well as later co-authoring the Richard and Judy Wine Guide. He was co-presenter of the flagship TV show BBC Food & Drink, a panel chair and senior judge at The International Wine Challenge for 30 years, also regularly judging at wine competitions throughout the world, including South Africa at Veritas. He was named International Wine Challenge's Personality of the Year in 2015 and IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year 2016. He is Owner and Presenter on The Drinks Coach UK on YouTube.

Panel convenors on day one of the Veritas Judging:
Bennie Howard, Riaan Moller, Albertus Louw, Charles Hopkins, Bertho van der Westhuizen, Colin Frith, De Wet Viljoen, Christo Pienaar, Pieter-Niel Rossouw

Cape Wine Masters: Nine of the 15 Cape Wine masters judging at Veritas on Tuesday: Jacques Steyn, Anton Swarts, Nina-Marie Bruwer, Winnie Bowman, Lizette Tolken, Mary-Lou Nash, Riaan van der Spuy, Bennie Howard and Rene Groenewald

3 September 2025

World’s first blind judge in local panel

The local judging team comprises winemakers, researchers, academics, wine buyers, wine writers, wine consultants and Cape Wine Masters (CWM’s). The latter group continues to play a significant role as independent judges, with no less than 15 CWMs in action over the five days.

LtR - Sjaak Nelson, panel convenor of Chardonnay , Jacques Lombard CWM , Bennie Howard, one of the first Cape Wine Masters to qualify in 1983 and vice-chairman of Veritas.