The victorious wine club at the 27th annual Blaauwklippen Blending Competition hails from the Eastern Cape. The winning blenders, namely the Engineers' Wine Society have religiously been entering the competition for the past 10 years, and 2010 marked the third year that they were finalists in this competition. The Engineers' Wine Society defeated 75 other hopeful wine clubs to walk away with blending glory. The club, now based in the Eastern Cape, was originally formed by a group of wine loving engineers in Durban. In 1997 one of the founding members moved to Port Elizabeth and resurrected the club in the Windy City. Since 1997 the club has grown to 16 members of which only two are engineers. The club now boasts a merry mixed group of professional people including an optometrist, advocate, metallurgist, pharmacist, cabinet maker, lecturer, restaurant owner, swimming school owner and even a ballet teacher! The Blaauwklippen Blending Competition is the only wine contest in South Africa where amateur wine clubs are given the opportunity to submit their own blends for judging by a panel of professional wine experts. Prizes include wine from Blaauwklippen and glassware from Vitria, who has been a sponsor of this competition since its inception. Finalist clubs are treated to a fun-filled and informative weekend in the winelands, and every club also gets a personal visit and special wine tasting from Rolf Zeitvogel, Blaauwklippen's cellar master and convenor of the judging panel. The winning club also receives the honour of having their blend bottled under the Blaauwklippen Barouche label and sold commercially. The label for this year's blend is based on a specially designed artwork by well-known Stellenbosch artist, Frans Groenewald. The wine is sold in limited edition Magnum bottles from certain retail outlets and from the tasting centre on the farm. In the final round of the battle of the blends, the Engineers' Wine Society was up against: The Tipsy Tarts Wine Club: This Natal based club initially started as a book club in 2005, but soon they were drinking more wine than reading, so the club evolved into a wine club! The club has 10 members,and they meet once a month. This is their first time as finalists in the Blending Competition. The Parys Winefly Club: This Orange Free State club made history this year, as they are not only finalists, but also received the best Newcomer Trophy. This is the third year that the Newcomer Trophy is awarded, and this trophy goes to the wine club with the highest scoring wine, coming from a wine club that has never entered the competition before. The Weskus Wyngilde: The only club flying the Western Cape flag was established in 2005 and the original club only welcomed male tasters, but that soon changed! The club has 24 members, and meet up at least every two months. They have been loyal supporters of the Blaauwklippen Blending Competition, having entered for 15 years, and 2010 was the first year they were chosen as a finalist. This year clubs have been tasked with making a blend from the following components, all from the 2009 vintage: Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Shiraz and Blaauwklippen's signature grape, Zinfandel. After the clubs had determined the ideal percentage of blending components to create their final wine, the 75 'creations' were tasted by a panel of winemakers and wine writers to determine the final four. The challenge to the clubs was to produce a complex, serious dry red blend with subtle tannin structure and good balance; a wine with finesse and freshness which can be enjoyed soon, but also allows potential for cellaring. The winning blend will be bottled under the Blaauwklippen Barouche label and recognition will be given to the successful wine club on the back label. The Engineers' Wine Society winning wine was a fusion of 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Shiraz, 7% Malbec and 45% Zinfandel. "Blaauwklippen aims to give wine enthusiasts a real life taste when it comes to the art of wine blending and a chance to become involved in the process of wine selection first hand. We even attracted an entry from America this year, the Planet Wine Club, based in Virginia! The competition is definitely growing and has become an institution on wine club calendars and definitely gives the clubs something to look forward to each year," says Rolf Zeitvogel, Blaauwklippen's cellar master. "The number of entries and repeat entries underscores the popularity of this competition and the role it has in the community of wine clubs. We are also encouraged that younger participants are taking part in the competition. With the Newcomer Award we aim to take the competition to the emerging market and hopefully introduce the art and fun of blending to a wider audience." Zeitvogel's panel of judges this year included Jeanri van Zyl (WINE journalist), Albert Basson (Blaauwklippen assistant winemaker), Clive Torr (Cape Wine Master and winemaker), Michelle Grimbeek (Cape Wine Academy) and Andrew Chigorimbo (wine judge and blogger).