Friday, March 22, 2013

RE:CM 10 YEAR OLD WINE AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED



04 March 2013: The RE:CM 10 Year Old Wine Awards today revealed its 10 finalists, in the build-up to the announcement of the three ultimate winners later this month. The finalists, in alphabetical order, include:

Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2003
Chamonix Troika 2003
Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2003
Morgenster 2003
Morgenster Lourens River Valley 2003
Remhoogte Estate Wine 2003
Rudera Syrah 2003
Tokara 2003
Uitkyk Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2003
Vilafonté Series C 2003

Now in its inaugural year, the RE:CM 10 Year Old Wine Awards was launched to commemorate the value-based asset management firm’s 10-year anniversary and aims to recognise and award vintage wines which have demonstrated outstanding age-worthiness.

Wine producers were requested to submit their 2003 vintages in February 2013 and in response a total of 73 entries were received from a variety of producing areas, such as Stellenbosch, Swartland, Tulbagh, Franschhoek, Wellington, Bot River, Paarl and Robertson. The finalists were selected by a three person panel, which consisted of chairman, Christian Eedes, respected wine writer and critic, and judges Jörg Pfützner, internationally trained and certified sommelier, and Nkulu Mkhwanazi, wine educator and entrepreneur. The judges conducted a blind tasting and utilised the 20-point/5 Star scoring system in order to determine the 10 finalists and three winners.

Piet Viljoen, executive chairman at RE:CM, says that the quality and quantity of wines received is a positive sign for the inaugural year of the awards. “The awards were established to demonstrate that with patience, extra reward can be achieved. Similar to value investing, our core approach, in order to produce wine of outstanding age-worthiness, discipline and a long-term view are demanded. While many wines can be enjoyed young, there is an acknowledgement that with time, the finest wines can benefit immensely.”

Three winners, of equal standing, were announced at an awards dinner at The Greenhouse Restaurant in Cape Town on the 14th March 2013, where acclaimed chef, Peter Tempelhoff, paired the winning wines with specifically designed dishes. 

RE:CM 10 YEAR OLD WINE AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

15 March 2013: Results of the RE:CM 10 Year Old Wine Awards were announced last night at a gala dinner held in Cape Town. The three winning wines were Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2003, Remhoogte Estate Wine 2003 and Rudera Syrah 2003.

The winning three 2003 vintage wines were selected from a line-up of 73 local wines and were judged according to their age-worthiness by a three person panel, which consisted of chairman, Christian Eedes, respected wine writer and critic, and judges Jörg Pfützner, internationally trained and certified sommelier, and Nkulu Mkhwanazi, wine educator and entrepreneur.

According to Eedes, 2003 was generally a good year for local reds, noting it could possibly be considered as vintage of the decade and as a result, the expectations of the tasting were exceptionally high. The aim of the tasting was to identify those wines that had really matured with benefit. “Ultimately we were looking to ascertain whether South African wine is age-worthy as opposed to just age-able. We were looking for wines that weren’t just a bit mellower with slightly softer tannins but wines that were starting to show really interesting tertiary character and an extra level of complexity by virtue of having spent 10 years in a bottle and by virtue of pedigree.”

On the night, valued clients, judges and media were treated to a three-course dinner at the award winning Greenhouse Restaurant by acclaimed chef, Peter Tempelhoff, who specially designed courses to pair with each 2013 RE:CM 10 Year Old Wine Award winner. The Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2003 was served with the first course of Springbok tataki, followed by a Beetroot Risotto for the second course, which was paired with Rudera Syrah 2003. The third course, consisting of Lamb Loin and Braised Shank, was paired with Remhoogte Estate Wine 2003.

2013 marks the inaugural year for the RE:CM 10 Year Old Wine Awards, launched to commemorate the value-based asset management firm’s 10-year anniversary. “There is more than a coincidental link between value investing and wine-making in terms of discipline and patience needed in order to deliver the best results,” says Piet Viljoen, executive chairman at RE:CM. 


For further information, please visit www.recmwineawards.co.za

-Ends-

About RE:CM 10 Year Old Wine Awards:
The panel tasting was conducted blind to avoid bias and each wine was judged independently. The commonly-used 20-point/5 Stars scoring system was used to determine a rating for each wine and ratings were awarded on the basis of discussion, involving re-tasting were necessary, with a view  to reaching consensus. All tasting procedures and results were further audited by chartered accountants, PKF International Limited.

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