The event took place on a rainy Saturday in the Woodstock studio of MasterChef South Africa judge Pete Goffe-Wood. He and Nederburg's Winemaster, Razvan Macici, judged the contestants.
Eight teams of four members each competed against each other for the Ultimate Wine and Food Pairing Master title. To start, each team was randomly assigned a wine from the Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve range. Their task was to take ingredients from a pantry created for the occasion and make a dish that would show their wine to best effect. Chef Pete and Winemaster Razvan offered advice along the way.
Blogger Jan Laubscher, food impressario Jonathan Steyn, Giuseppe Giovanni Pisanello and his daughter, Lucia, of Team Riesling walked away as the winners of the challenge with their delicious Thai-style curry. They succeeded in matching it perfectly with the fragrant notes and slight spiciness of the wine. All four won a fabulous Le Creuset cookware item of their own to take home, but other participants didn’t leave empty-handed, though. They all received a Nederburg wine hamper as well as a small gift from Le Creuset.
MasterChef South Africa season 2 runs for 14 weeks from June 11 on M-Net, every Tuesday and Wednesday at 19h30.