Friday, September 07, 2018

2018 Perold/Absa Cape Blend awards lunch at Lanzerac

The Sum of the Parts
This year’s Absa Cape Blend Competition Awards, run by the Pinotage Association, were presented at a lunch at Lanzerac in Stellenbosch. We were invited to taste the top 10 finalists first and then, at lunch, the trophies for the top 5 winners were presented and certificates were presented to the remaining five finalists. A Cape Blend has to contain a minimum of 30% and no more than 70% Pinotage, the other grapes can be any the farms select, which makes this competition very interesting

The event was held in Lanzerac's very smart Cellar Hall. The judges this year were Jacques Roux (marketing director of DGB), Fred Viljoen and Johan Malan (proprietors and cellar masters at Viljoensdrift and Simonsig respectively), Susan Erasmus (Laffort), Brad Gold (CWM) and legendary winemaker Guy Webber. We found the quality of the 10 wines to be excellent. Most of the blends are led by Pinotage, but not all. They have elegance, complexity and are very easy to drink; they have maturity and great textures. They have reached a peak, but you can see there is much more to come. It was wonderful to see Lanzerac's buildings restored after the devastating fire they suffered last year
Wildekrans owner Amanda Harlow and winemaker Braam Gericke. The Wildekrans Cape Blend Barrel Select was one of the top five winners
Dewald Huisamen, Pulpit Rock is a top 5 winner with his Pulpit Rock Louisa Reserve 2014
KWV winemaker Sacha Muller; KWV won with their KWV Abraham Perold Tributum 2014
Cape Wine Master and Distell Director Francis (Duimpie) Bayly in conversation
Anri Truter (Beyerskloof), Abrie Beeslaar (Kanonkop) and Johan Schwartz (Pinotage Assn)
Alida & Vian Bester of Leipzig Winery were in the top 5 winners with their Leipzig Master Blend 2017
Beyers Truter with his Faith, a Finalist
The proceeds of this wine go towards fighting Foetal Alcohol Syndrome
Clifford Roberts with Dave Hughes - nice to see Dave looking so well and happy
Time for lunch and the awards
Beyers Truter, Chairman of the Pinotage Association, spoke first. "Our industry is lekker", he said "they hou van gesels" (they enjoy conversation). This category needed some time to get it right; they need to dream in Technicolor. Wines that come of age will hold their own against the best wines from the rest of the world
Adrie Esterhuyse from ABSA commented that wine quality in SA has improved, and that ABSA is proud to support the SA wine industry. The Pinotage Association needed to grow the customer base and after several years of discussion, the concept of the Cape Blend was agreed upon. The rest is history, it has been a success
The menu
The ten finalists and the three Pinotage Rosé finalists which were entered into this 
new competition category as these wines are important in this growth area of wine
We tucked into our starter of slow braised oxtail with a superb shimeji broth with beautiful umami wild mushroom flavours, an olive and potato espuma, topped with baked celeriac twirls, tiny Enoki mushrooms and a beetroot soil. The course was served with bread and these two butters. Well matched was the Rooiberg Rosé which has a slight sweetness
The food went perfectly with the Faith blend of Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot
People were raving about the lamb. It was cooked Sous Vide and was meltingly tender, without being dry, and had superb flavour. Beyers called for us to stand and clap in appreciation to the chef! Topped with baby artichokes, sweet potatoes, a courgette purée and rich dark pan juices. A triumph
The dish of vegetables to go with the lamb, beautifully cooked multicoloured beetroot,
tender stemmed broccoli, squash, courgettes and baby fennel
Time for the awards
A special Honorarium for Duimpie Bayly "in recognition of his Exceptional contribution to the development of Pinotage, South Africa's unique cultivar"
He commented that next year they will put ISA after his name (I'm still Alive)!
and a hug from Pinotage Association Manager, Elsabe Ferreira
Dessert was a spread set out in the lobby and it was fairly spectacular.
Rich mini cheesecakes
Macaron topped chocolate puddings, cup cakes topped with frills of pineapple
Chocolate truffles
Almond topped choux buns filled with rose scented crème patissière
And parmesan cheese with roasted pears and marmalade
A wheel of brie topped with roasted pears and caramelised pecans, next to tiny tiramisu cups
And assorted iced petit fours
Top 3 Pinotage Rosés: Rooiberg, Asara, Landskroon
The Top Five Cape Blend winners with their trophies and certificates
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Thursday, September 06, 2018

The South African Young Wine Awards in the Stellenbosch Town Hall

Before we show you this story, we must apologise for the quality of the food photographs at the Awards dinner. The lighting in the hall was red most of the time, largely because of a set of multi-coloured floodlights at the foot of the stage. It was particularly bad when the food arrived and those pictures are the worst...

The South African Young Wine Awards were presented in the Stellenbosch Town Hall this year. It is the oldest wine competition in the world, having been started in 1833. It is always interesting to taste these wines in their very raw state and so, during the afternoon preceding the awards gala, we were invited to a hall at The Markotter Sports Centre at the Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch to taste the finalists. It can be quite heavy going, as most of these are tank samples not yet ready for bottling. The judges must be able to see where a wine might go and what it might become at this early stage. You need a lot of experience in the industry to do this
White wines on the left, ranging from Sauvignons Blanc to sweeter white wines, then the reds ranging down the table on the right. Shiraz and "stickies" the really sweet wines were in another hall
It was an extremely chilly evening, the event was Black Tie and Lynne was well wrapped up in her woollen cloak. Some risked being glamorous, but the hall was huge, there were many doors and the drafts blew the candle out constantly. We were welcomed with a glass of sweet sherry. This was the media table
We were beautifully entertained by Opera singer Robin Botha, who is from Stellenbosch. She had the lead role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera for which she won the 2012 Fleur du Cap award for the best Actress in a Musical. She opened with the Song to the Moon from Dvořák’s Rusalka and Wishing You Were Here Again from Phantom. Her high notes are so impressive and pure. She did sing again later and really captivated the audience
The trophies on the stage awaiting the awards and a picture of the main trophy, The General Smuts, which goes to the Overall South African Champion Wine producer. We do wonder which hero or heroine gets to polish these each year when they come back from the farms who won them last year
The MC for the evening was De Wet Viljoen, Cellarmaster of Neethlingshof Wine Estate
The welcome and grace was done by Johan Ehlers, CEO of sponsors HUB Agri-Expo
The starter of seared salmon pieces with a beetroot cumin soil, beetroot crisps, pea puree dots, lovely new fresh peas, and something we have never, ever been served before. A dollop of cold, congealed mushroom risotto! No thank you. There was a selection of wines on each table, red and white, and the waiter could get you others you wanted to try. There was also a cash bar
An enormously impressive flower arrangement; it has to be so large as the hall is vast and there were several of them around the hall
Minister Alan Winde was to give the Address but, sadly, he was ill and not able to make the event. His place was taken by Christo Pienaar, Chairman of the SA National Wine Show Association, who ably and skilfully filled in
After the starter it was time for the awards
These are the 2018 Trophy winners

This is Bon Courage getting the SA Champion Trophy for the Best Late Harvest wine, received by a smiling Andre Bruwer, who made the wine
The main course was a Moroccan lamb pot pie. The braised leg of lamb was flavourful, but the pastry was odd and we were unable to cut it. This was served with butternut purée and baby rainbow carrots
After the many awards, there was a roll of drums, and the winner of the main Trophy, the General Smuts Trophy, was announced. It was Wellington wines for the Wooded Pinotage. Wellington wines has done very well indeed lately, winning three awards that we witnessed. This one, and a Top 10 Pinotage Award and Top 10 Chenin Blanc Award. Definitely a wine-making success story and wines to buy and watch in future  
The heavy, glittering trophy was carried shoulder high into the hall by two stalwarts to the rousing theme tune from Chariots of Fire by Vangelis. It certainly was an impressive entry
And the team from Wellington collecting their Trophy
Winemaker Izelle van Blerk with the Red Wine Trophy which was won by KWV for SA Champion Red Blend (Pinotage/Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz/Malbec – wooded)

After the awards we enjoyed a platter of award winning South African cheeses and then it was time for carriages

For more information visit www.youngwineshow.co.za
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