THE BEST OF THE BLENDSSeptember was also the month we announced the winners of the annual Blaauwklippen Blending Competition. The Natalia Wine Society from the Midlands in KwaZulu-Natal walked away with the blending glory when they were announced the winners of 30th Blaauwklippen Blending Competition, beating 90 other blends with their elegant creation of 28% Merlot, 32% Malbec, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Shiraz. Well done to them and the finalists, Oude Molen Wynkring from Potchefstroom in the North-West Province, Web Wine Society from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape andWinemag.co.za Wine Club from the Western Cape. We introduced an additional award in 2008, the Newcomer Trophy. This trophy goes to the highest scoring wine of a wine club which has never entered the competition before. The honours went to Winemag.co.za, as well as the additional honour of being the top scoring media wine club. To celebrate 30 years of blending, Blaauwklippen invited wine media to enter and a special award was created for the highest scoring entry. The winning club gets the honour of having their blend bottled under the Blaauwklippen Barouche label and sold commercially. The label for the winning blend is based on a specially designed artwork by well-known Stellenbosch artist, Frans Groenewald. The wine is sold for R144 in Magnum (1.5l) bottles from elected retail outlets, our Wine Centre andonline. Click HERE to read complete newsletter online.