Wine industry
SA Young Wine Show
Agri-Expo hosted the presentation of the 2008 SA Young Wine Show. A total of 2 036 young wines were entered by no less than 179 cellars. The judging took place during the last week of July at Nederburg, where a panel of seven members judged 17 different wine categories.
Boland Cellar of Paarl achieved the award for the best young wine in South Africa with a Merlot. On Thursday 21 Augustus, the sought-after Genl Smuts trophy was awarded to the winner during a luncheon at Oude Libertas in Stellenbosch. Spier wines of Stellenbosch walked away with the Pietman Hugo trophy for obtaining the highest points for five entries.
While Agri-Expo hosts the SA Young Wine Show every alternative year, financial support is given to the regions hosting the show every other year.
Cellar had his Merlot adorned with top
laurels at the 2008 Young Wine Show.
Hugo trophy. In the back row from the
left: Mr. Abraham Smith, Mr. Johan
Jordaan and Mr. Johann Smith. In the
front row: Ms. Tania Kleintjies and
Mr. Jacques Erasmus.
2 Februarie 1695.
Veritas
The Veritas Awards is widely regarded as South Africa's foremost wine competition. It is aimed at rewarding quality and excellence in this highly competitive field and serves as an excellent guide to wine enjoyment for consumers.
This year the judging panel was complemented by a team of international wine experts from diverse backgrounds and each with extensive experience in wine assessment. The presence of these six top international wine connoisseurs, from as far afield as Australia, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and the UK, augmented the credibility of the results.
The judging for the 17th annual Veritas Awards took place at the Nederburg Auction Complex in Paarl from 8 to 12 September. A remarkable 1 753 wines were assessed by 105 distinguished judges that comprised of 15 panels who shared their professional opinions before reaching a consensus to determine the award winning wines. For the seventh year running Shiraz had the most entries with 220 wines, while Sauvignon Blanc followed with 192 entries and Cabernet Sauvignon with 187. The 2008 Veritas double gold and gold winners were announced at a gala dinner sponsored by Agri-Expo at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on Saturday 11 October.
In front, from left to right: Coenie Snyman (Rust en Vrede), David Niewoudt (Cederberg),
Andrea Freeborough (Fleur du Cup), Debbie Thompson (Simonsig), Anneke du Plessis (KWV),
Nomonde Kubheka (KWV), Belinda Eyssen (KWV), Cobus van Graan (KWV), Bennie Liebenberg (Fleur du Cup).
At the back, from left to right: Jaco van der Walt (Fleur du Cup), Justin Corrans (Fleur du Cup),
John November (Fleur du Cup), Johan Joubert (Kleine Zalze), Berto van der Westhuizen (Kleine Zalze),
Van Zyl du Toit (Simonsig), Chris Swanepoel (Simonsig), Johan Malan (Simonsig), Christo Pienaar (Nuy),
Juan Slabbert (Nuy), Johan Fourie (KWV).
Veritas Competition. Dr. Isabelle
Lesschaeve, Canada (left)
and Ms. Janna Rijpma, Netherlands (right)
Cultivar workshops
To further emphasise the quality of South African wines, Agri-Expo also supports various cultivar workshops. The purpose of these workshops is to promote the quality of different cultivars. This year, Agri-Expo supported Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay workshops.