Old Mutual Trophy feedback at the Grande Roche, Paarl

There are several wine competitions throughout the year, each of which has a different format. Some are judged by wine experts, others by the wine trade; some by pure amateurs, others by winemakers, journalists  or the entrants' peers and some are a combination of all the above. The Old Mutual Trophy employs a mix of different specialists involved in the wine industry and, each year, invites several judges from different countries to get a good outsiders' view of how the local industry is doing. The wines are subjected to rigorous tasting. This year, 212 producers entered wines, and 1040 wines were tasted in three and a half days. There were some very exciting results, reported at the Feedback Session last Thursday

A welcome snack and a cup of coffee on arrival

There is always a large gathering of media and wine industry at the feedback, to hear the views of the judges on what they have tasted over the last few days. They talk about quality in the different categories, improvements, trends and, sometimes, the disappointments. 

And, as all the wines are tasted blind, this feedback is a very good indicator of where the South African wine industry is currently and where it seems to be heading. No results will be announced until the Awards presentation and lunch on the 28th of May

We heard that the depth of talent in most classes was extraordinary and about how hard it was to keep wines out of the medal classes. High silver medals this year would have been gold a few years ago. There are 23 Trophy awards this year, including the Museum class, 14 gold, 121 silver and 496 bronze awards

Show Chairman Michael Fridjhon tells us about this year’s wines

On average each taster tastes approximately 110 wines a day. Museum Class entries continue to show growth – an indication that producers and consumers are beginning to acknowledge the age-worthiness of the best new-generation South African wines. This year they represented 5% of all submissions

Michael was pleased with the spread of entries, noting that the increased number of submissions in the more niche classes added interest to the event and reflected the adventurous spirit of the Cape wine industry. “In the past we tended to receive the bulk of our submissions in a few high profile classes.” he said. "It left us wondering why producers who had planted less well-known varieties were disinclined to commit them to the judging process. Increasingly, we have seen that these lesser-known categories can be the important differentiators for the industry and it’s exciting to see more of them in the line-up.” Shiraz was the toughest and the largest class.  Someone asked if there had been stylistic changes over  the last five years. Top Shirazes were in a more elegant style, but there certainly are monstrous shirazes out there, which are not being awarded gold at this competition.  Red wines have started to dry out again. They have less sugar and less alcohol

Fongyee Walker (China) - Malaysian-born, a graduate of Cambridge University, where she held the title of ‘Best Varsity Blind Taster, and China's best known wine educator. 

She said that the Chenin class was fantastic and mind-blowing in its diversity of style, which we produce so well. There was not a lot of love in the large Merlot class. She was excited to see what South Africa has to offer and encouraged us to get involved in the growing Chinese market, where most people still drink tea and beer and spirits. She thinks that Cape Blends is an exciting category, although their reliability was disappointing, probably because of indifferent closures. So many bottles were needed because of this. Pinotage domination should not happen. It bullies everything else into submission. There are so many exciting red blends and several medals were awarded this year for wines using Tannat and Touriga Nacional; so different on the nose and the palate

François Rautenbach - Heads up the ‘Singita Premier Wine Direct’ programme for Singita Private Game Reserves, Relais & Chateaux, sourcing and supplying wines for the Singita properties in Southern and East Africa

He reported that there is obviously real care being taken in the Semillon class, so we need to reward them with purchases. There is substantial growth in the white Bordeaux blends class, but growers think that they can charge more for these wines. And, while there were a few good wines, too many did not reflect excellence. "Don’t experiment at the customer’s expense". The Sauvignon Blanc class was remarkable this year, no massive acid attacks, they have mellowed in a good way. Shiraz needs more precision and there were many disappointing wines. Some top, but not enough good wines

Trizanne Barnard - Graduated from Stellenbosch University in 2002 with a BSc in Viticulture and Oenology

Following vintages in Alsace, Bordeaux and Northern Rhône, as well as Portugal and Western Australia, she served as chief winemaker for Anwilka in Stellenbosch from 2005 to 2008. She released the maiden vintage of her Trizanne Signature Wine in 2010. White wine producers generally are doing a good job. Semillon is a hard sell but, if we continue to create these at this level, we will get great results. Niche whites show good growth and quality. Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends are very site-specific and we need to concentrate on choosing the right clones and terroir. She has so much praise for the Chardonnay class, where we are getting it right, showing focused and detailed wines, done to a T. Red blends were hard to judge and medals have gone to varietals not normally tasted, like Touriga National and Tannat

Christian Eedes - Freelance wine writer, contributing to Business Day’s Wanted and to GQ. Founder of Whatidranklastnight.co.za, past editor of Wine magazine

He is this year’s most experienced South African judge. He found a definite sense of growth, maturity and sophistication in the industry this year; better travelled and more experienced wines. With red wines, we seem to have stepped back from ultra ripe and block-buster wines; these wines are more restrained and will last. Chenin is the most widely planted and strong category. It is a difficult category to judge as every wine had merit. It is all over the place in the best possible way. Stylistic consolidation is not possible. He asks the growers please to put "Wooded" or "Unwooded" on the label, as is done with Chardonnay  

Véronique Drouhin-Boss (France). Winemaker at family-owned Maison Joseph Drouhin in Burgundy, she supervises the vinification and tracks the development and ageing of the wines through daily tastings with her brothers, Frédéric, Philippe and Laurent. 

In 1988, together with her father, Robert Drouhin, she vinified the first vintage at Domaine Drouhin in Oregon, USA, where she is still in charge of the winemaking.

She last judged here 6 years ago and says that the improvement is amazing. Quality is very high and the use of oak is a lot smarter than it was. There is great definition, purity, complexity and elegance. We need to ask "is the clone or rootstock the best for my terroir?" She encourages organic and biodynamic winemaking. There is still some over-pressed bitterness on wines. She found the Pinot Noir class more difficult; it was not very exciting this year. She found greenness and queried the fining and filtration. If it is ‘refining’, would it be better ? We need to do trials of when to pick, and when to bottle. She picked up too much alcohol on some wines. The most disappointing is the bitterness from possible over-wooding. The use of a maximum of 25% new oak overwhelms the wine and it does not age well. Some are too light, need texture and don’t taste like Pinot Noir. 

Gerard Basset MW (United Kingdom) - French-born but UK-based for more than 30 years, he started his career as a restaurant waiter, followed by extensive sommelier experience and training

Judged the World’s Best Sommelier in 2010 and awarded an OBE (2011) in acknowledgement of his mentoring of a generation of young sommeliers and his contribution to the British hospitality industry. Voted Decanter Man of the Year in 2013. The only person to have qualified as a Master of Wine and Master Sommelier and to hold a Wine MBA (from Bordeaux). Honorary President of WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust. Overall the quality of the wines he tasted is excellent. The Bordeaux blends were very consistent. The Sparkling/MCC class was disappointing. Many of the new wines are harsh, bitter and not very pleasant. Many lacked elegance and were clumsy but, conversely, some established wines are very good indeed. The Champagne template doesn’t always work for us. He enjoyed the Pinotage class; after 50 tasted, he is very positive. He would have given gold to all the dessert wines

JD Pretorius
- Graduated from Stellenbosch University in 2007 with a BSc in Viticulture and Oenology. Worked at Beyerskloof and Graham Beck Wines as well as at Stonestreet Winery in Sonoma County, California. Appointed winemaker at Steenberg Vineyards in Tokai on the Constantia Wine Route in 2009 and promoted to cellarmaster in 2012

In the Chardonnay class, he found some incredibly fine wines, very focused and poised with good minerality, not too rich. However, some contained so much CO2 that they could have been in the Sparkling class. Michael commented that with the use of mobile bottling plants, people are not controlling sparging, sulphur levels and CO2 levels; they leave it to the bottling plant and this is not good. Tasting the 50 Merlots was hard work. There are not many good ones. The Other Red Blends class, with cinsaut and other rarely used grapes, is beautiful and needs more investment and investigation.

James Pietersen Head sommelier for Belthazar and Balducci's restaurants in Cape Town and a former wine buyer for the Vineyard Connection in Stellenbosch. Moving imminently from there to The Wine Cellar.

Riesling was an interesting class, winemakers are working hard at it. One shone, others coming to the top. We mustn’t be scared to experiment. Unusual varieties like Tannat, Reisling etc will excite the consumers. They tasted 94 Cabernet Sauvignons and this is the most important class internationally. There were wines of quality and it is a strong class. He is glad to see structure, persistence and great freshness coming through. Our top wines are world class.

Cathy van Zyl MW  Master of wine, who has judged previously at the Trophy Wine Show, most recently in 2011

An occasional panelist for several other local competitions and has judged overseas with stints at Vinitaly's Concurso Enológico Internacional, the Sydney International Wine Competition, the Shanghai International Wine Competition, Decanter's World Wine Awards and the International Wine Competition. Associate editor of Platter's South African Wine Guide, co-founder of the web-based publication Grape, and co-author of the South African chapter of The Wine Report for several years. She chairs the Institute of Masters of Wine's education committee and lectures internationally.

She had a wonderful time judging the Sauvignon Blanc class. What style should we be producing? We should vary our styles. Herbaceousness is fine, so is the slightly sweaty style. There was representation of every style we could imagine. The wines tasted were very impressive. There is also improvement in oaked Sauvignon Blancs. She is just back from the UK and Decanter and tasted New Zealand, Chilean, Argentinian, Australian wines. Ours are good

The line up of the wine crew, who work tirelessly in the background to facilitate the tasting of the wines

The Grande Crew!

Then it was time for lunch in the restaurant

and to taste some wine with lunch

Three of the wines available for us to drink

as well as some good bubblies

The Menu

The fresh and simple starter of beetroot with goat's cheese

This unusual white blend from Rickety Bridge was a good accompaniment to the beetroot

Another guest at lunch was Don Hammond, a Confrère de Maitre de Bordeaux from Manchester in the United Kingdom. We had great fun tasting wine together and comparing the wines and the dishes

Veronique Drouhin-Boss and Angela Lloyd in deep discussion. We spoke to Veronique about Christopher Keet's wine pairing lunch at Aubergine the next day. Good fortune and coincidence brought her there... 

The main course was succulent breast of duck with a confited duck leg, crisp tuille of duck skin and a duck rissole, accompanied by a cauliflower purée and mushroom jus. Delicious and a good sized portion

The Outsorceress magician in the background: Janice Fridjhon, who makes it all happen, keeps this competition going so well and works on the road shows - seen here with Veronique Drouhin-Boss and Angela Lloyd. Do try to get to one of these shows in your area to taste some of the winning wines. Click here for details.

Another great wine to go with the duck

Decadent dessert

Tired judges and organiser after a long four day stint, enjoying lunch. Francois Rautenbach, Christian Eedes, Janice Fridjhon and James Pietersen

The beautiful manicured gardens of Grande Roche hotel in Paarl

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014