Sunday, February 05, 2017

The Getaway Best Value Wine Awards

Almost 250 wines were entered for this annual competition and we attended the awards ceremony this week. Should you want a copy, this year's Getaway Best Value Wines Guide is bagged with the February issue of Getaway, which is on sale from 23 January 2017. Results are also are also available at www.bestvaluewineguide.com
It was held at a new venue for us, The Eatery Wood Fired Grill in Belvedere Square, Claremont There is a list of national restaurants in the guide where you can drink these wines as they allow you to Bring Your Own good value wines
All the wines were laid out for us to taste at our leisure. There are a few more wine farms we would like to see entering these awards next year
They produced some very good canapés to ease down the wines. These were Bruschettas of tomato, olives, cheese and basil. Messy but satisfying
They have a lovely shady terrace where the winners were announced.
Kathryn Frew is the organiser of this event for Getaway magazine
Neil Piper, Getaway Publisher, told us about these awards, which have been presented since 2002. The statistical model that rates each wine was developed by UCT academic Dr David Priilaid after more than a decade of analysing the results of various wine competitions and tastings. Dr Priilaid’s system uses the data he’s collected to work out each wine’s value, quality and price. All the wines are available on shelf for R80 or less
Fiona MacDonald, head judge, told us about the process. All the wines are tasted blind and by two separate panels of judges. They were tasted in specific categories: Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, white blends, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinotage, Merlot, red blends, Almost 250 wines were entered for this annual competition and, this week, we attended the awards ceremony. Should you want a copy, this year's Getaway Best Value Wines Guide is bagged with the February issue of Getaway, which has been on sale from 23rd January. Results are also are also available at www.bestvaluewineguide.com 
The Getaway team 
The awards were presented by Sonya Schoeman – Getaway Editor
Here she is with Ken Forrester and Shawn Mathyse of Ken Forrester wines, who won for the Petit Sauvignon Blanc
Jean du Preez receiving his award for the Du Preez Rockfield Cabernet Sauvignon
Theunis van Zyl of Imbuko in Wellington swept the board with three separate Awards - Imbuko Merlot, Van Zijl Coffee Pinotage and Shortwood Red Blend 
and therefore won the Overall Best Value Producer award
Brendan Butler of Mount Vernon won the award for the best value Rosé
Calamari and chips motivate us to make a booking soon
Chilli poppers
Very good, lean seared steak topped with a green herb sauce
 And Bobotie spring rolls with a sweet chilli dip, dessert wines and bubblies
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017