Guests and media were crowded into Neil Grant's the ever-popular Burrata restaurant in the Old Biscuit Mill in Salt River. I must be the only person in the world not to have been there before today! It is the trendiest spot in town, housing The Pot Luck Club and much more...
Kudos to Sanlam Private Investment for continuing to support Christian's Chardonnay initiative. Their clients are high-end wine and art lovers so it makes a perfect match.
Compared to other competitions and awards, this one is fairly simple and subjective, with Christian and his fellow judges inviting their top 60 Chardonnays to participate. These wineries are then invited to participate and fight for the top 10 slots.
The two other judges are Roland Peens from Wine Cellar, a Cape Town firm which brokers and cellars
fine wine, and James Pietersen, beverage manager for local restaurants
Balducci’s and Belthazar. Both are highly experienced. Peens is a former
taster for Platter’s and also recently was one of the South African Wine Tasting team who represented South Africa in France in the World Blind Wine tasting competition. Pietersen is a current taster for Platter's.
Even though a top 10 list is generated based on the tasting, the exercise is pitched more as an in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the category in question, all wines submitted receiving a rating and a detailed tasting note. This, in addition to the fact that producers are not asked to pay an entry fee, alleviates the “competition fatigue” that exists in many quarters.
The judges tasted the 60 wines blind, the scoring being done according to the 20-point/5 Star system. After round one, 14 wines were deemed to be of particular merit and these went through to a second and final round. PKF were the tasting auditors.
The top 10 wines were as follows:
FIVE STARS
- Groot Constantia Chardonnay 2012
- Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2012
FOUR AND A HALF STARS
- Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay 2012
- Haskell Anvil 2012 (to be released in March 2014)
- Tokara Reserve Collection Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2012
-
KWV The Mentors Chardonnay 2012
FOUR STARS
- Boschendal Reserve Collection 2012(to be released January 2014)
- Crystallum The Agnes 2012
- Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Chardonnay 2012
- Rustenberg Five Soldiers 2011
For more pics on the announcements - see HERE
To read more on the report - visit www.whatidranklastnight.co.za