Bright and early and just a little bleary eyed after
our Chilli Festival the night before, we arrived at a new venue for us, the
Shimmy Beach Club, which is right on the edge of the breakwater area in Cape
Town harbour. We were promised and were given coffee and breakfast with a glass
of one of the winning wines, the deliciously crisp and lean Graham Beck Blanc
de Blancs 2009, a wine that is scooping lots of international awards, while we
heard about this year’s awards
Bright and early and just a little bleary eyed after
our Chilli Festival dinner the night before, we arrived at a new venue for us, the
Shimmy Beach Club, which is right on the edge of the breakwater area in Cape
Town harbour. We were promised and were given coffee and breakfast with a glass
of one of the winning wines, the deliciously crisp and lean Graham Beck Blanc
de Blancs 2009, a wine that is scooping lots of international awards, while we
heard about this year’s awards
Shimmy with
its man-made “beach” and cube pool, early on a chilly weekday morning
Inside the main restaurant
Our meeting
was held upstairs, inside the Bunnahabhain Whisky Bar. Sadly, these bottles of Bunnahabhain
are empty
Maryna
Strachan of Wine Extra and IWSC Judge Dave Hughes get the room ready
Maryna pours us a glass of the 2009 Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs
She announces
the winners of the Gold medals. The Trophies will only be announced in London at
the Guildhall on the 23rd of November. If you'd like to see the link to all the
medal winners, go to the IWSC web site www.iwsc.net/
Dave Hughes tells us how the awards
work. This year 632 South African wines were entered. They are judged by a
panel of local judges with some visiting overseas judges. All the judges must
have a formal wine qualification. The same happens in each of the Southern
Hemisphere wine countries whose producers enter. In this competition, all the
medal winning wines are scientifically tested. All the gold medal winning wines
will then go to the UK to be judged for the trophies. They use a 100 point
scoring system. IWSC is a privately owned-for-profit company. Judging might not
take place here next year. Judges asked to go to London to judge do not have
their fares paid. They are all volunteers and only have their local UK travel
costs paid while they are there
Taking lots of notes and asking lots of
questions
The venerable David Hughes CWM
Mike Bampfield Duggan of Wine Concepts,
Kalinka Lombard of Wine Style and Shante Hutton, Wine News editor of Wine.co.za listen attentively
The breakfast menu for the meeting
A huge double portion of eggs Benedict
with smoked salmon was, sadly, very, very salty
Corn and thyme fritters with scrambled
egg, small chipolata sausages and a sweet onion jam
The gold medal winning 2009 MCC Blanc de
Blancs from Graham Beck
A young kelp gull takes to the air
It’s a busy harbour. This is the old prison
boat Susan Kruger being used as a ferry to take tourists to Robben Island,
passing a barge tug
The list of Gold Outstanding and Gold Medal winners is:
Gold Outstanding
Van Ryn's Distillers Reserve 12 Year Old - Distell Ltd
Oude Meester Souverein 18 Year Old - Distell Ltd
Van Ryn Collectors Reserve 20 Year Old - Distell Ltd
Richelieu 10 Year Old Vintage Brandy - Distell Ltd
Oude Meester Reserve 12 Year Old - Distell Ltd
Van Ryn's Fine Cask Reserve 15 Year Old - Distell Ltd
Jordan Cobblers Hill 2010 - Jordan Wine Estate
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 - Jordan Wine Estate
KWV Grape Brandy 12 Year Old - KWV SA
KWV Grape Brandy 15 Year Old - KWV SA
KWV Grape Brandy 20 Year Old - KWV SA
Abraham Perold Tributum 2010 - KWV SA
Kika 2013 - Miles Mossop
Nederburg Winemaster's Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2012 - Nederburg Wines (Pty) Ltd
Nederburg Private Bin Edelkeur 2011 - Nederburg Wines (Pty) Ltd
Nederburg Private Bin Eminence 2010 - Nederburg Wines (Pty) Ltd
Gold
Lyngrove Platinum Shiraz 2011 - Baarsma (Pty) Ltd
Beau Belle Geneesbos 2012 - Beau Belle Farm (Pty) Ltd
The Bernard Series Small Barrel SMV 2012 - Bellingham
Beyerskloof Field Blend 2009 - Beyerskloof
Suider Terras Sauvignon Blanc 2013 - Bloemendal Estate
Boschkloof Syrah 2012 - Boschkloof Wines
Constantia Glen FIVE 2010 - Constantia Glen Winery (Pty) Ltd
DMZ Syrah 2012 - De Morgenzon
Delheim Edelspatz Noble Late Harvest 2013 - Delheim Wines
Diemersfontein Carpe Diem Pinotage 2012 - Diemersfontein Wines
Klipdrift - Distell Ltd
Three Ships Single Malt 10 Year Old - Distell Ltd
Amarula - Distell Ltd
Mainstay Island Fusion - Distell Ltd
Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky 5 Year Old - Distell Ltd
Driehoek Shiraz 2012 - Driehoek Wines
Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2009 - Graham Beck Wines
Graham Beck Pheasants' Run 2013 - Graham Beck Wines
Hartenberg The Eleanor 2012 - Hartenberg Estate
Hartenberg Shiraz 2010 - Hartenberg Estate
JC Le Roux Scintilla 2008 - JC Le Roux
Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 - Kleine Zalze Wines
KWV The Mentors Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2013 - KWV SA
KWV The Mentors Noble Late Harvest 2012 - KWV SA
Le Bonheur Prima 2009 - Le Bonheur Estate
Nederburg Private Bin Eminence 2009 - Nederburg Wines (Pty) Ltd
Nederburg Private Bin Edelkeur 2009 - Nederburg Wines (Pty) Ltd
Neethlingshof The Six Flowers 2013 - Neethlingshof Estate
Oldenburg Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2013 - Oldenburg Vineyards
Stellenzicht Rhapsody 2007 - Stellenzicht Vineyards
Vergelegen Estate Red 2003 - Vergelegen Wines (Pty) Ltd
Warwick Estate Trilogy 2007 - Warwick Wine Estate
Wildekrans Chenin Blanc Barrel Select Reserve 2013 - Wildekrans Wine Estate
Wildekrans Shiraz Barrel Select Reserve 2012 - Wildekrans Wine Estate
You can see the other awards by drilling through all 6110 winners at http://www.iwsc.net/search2014/wine
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014
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