Grapeworx presented their first GOLDEN GRAPE AWARD to De Toren at a prestigious award ceremony held on the 29th April 2004 at De Toren Estate in Stellenbosch. De Toren’s ‘Fusion V’ 2001 scored a superlative 18.2 out of 20 amongst other Noble Red Wines in a Grapeworx comparative blind wine tasting held earlier this year. Grapeworx was established two years ago when Rob Meihuizen and Mark Norrish, two key players in the wine industry, identified the need for a service whereby producers could have their wines evaluated and benchmarked absolutely ‘blind’ against others in the industry. Producers are now able to have their entire range submitted to an elite tasting panel who compile a full report detailing quality/price ratios and market positioning for their specific product. The Grapeworx panel consists of Allan Mullins, Irina von Holdt, Clive Torr, Andrew Baker, Anne Jakubiec, Mark Norrish and Rob Meihuizen, as well as guest panelists Chris Kelly and Cathy van Zyl. Exclusive comparative wine tastings have been the core service offered by Grapeworx since its inception. As of April 2004 Grapeworx has extended their service to vertical tastings on a monthly basis. This new service has been targeted at producers who do not have a sufficiently large range of wines to warrant an exclusive tasting and would prefer to submit one varietal for evaluation at a time. Guests attending the award ceremony were treated to a rare tasting of Fusion V 2001 and the components making up this fine blend. Winemaker Albie Koch highlighted that wine is definitely made in the vineyard, adding ‘it is so much easier to work with the grapes inside once the work has already been done outside.’ Emil den Dulk and the team at De Toren explained that the award came as an ‘absolute surprise’. Emil den Dulk added that he felt honoured to receive the first Golden Grape Award and wished Grapeworx all the best in the future. PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephan BuschFor more information on Grapeworx and the services they offer, please contact: Lindi BroughtonTel: +27 (0) 21 809-9211Email: grapeworx@southerntrade.co.za