Awards 2008

On the 15^th and 16^th September, the eighth Juliet Cullinan Wine Connoisseur's Awards in association with The Collection by Liz McGrath took place at The Cellars-Hohenhort in Constantia.

The aim was to identify the finest wines in each category, to focus public attention on the premium wines and to increase sales of the winning wines. As wine tasting is a unique talent, the judges' skills were put to the test analysing current vintages and determining the best of Cape winemaking.

The award for the top scoring wine went to the Full Circle 2006 - a Rhone-style blend from Tulbagh cellar, Saronsberg.

It is the first major distinction for the recently-released 2006 vintage, which seems set to follow in the footsteps of the multi-award winning 2005 Full Circle (Best Red Wine - Swiss International Airlines Awards 2008; Gold [Best in Class] - IWSC 2008; Double Gold - Veritas 2007; Red Wine Trophy - Winemakers' Choice 2007).

Newly elected Cape Winemakers Guild member, Dewaldt Heyns from Saronsberg was delighted with the news:

"It's always a pleasure receiving recognition in the form of awards, but for us the most important fact is a consistency of success - something which we've managed to achieve with all our wines since the 2004 maiden vintage, but especially the Full Circle.

"With their focus on highlighting the art of food and wine pairing, the Juliet Cullinan Wine Awards are unique in their approach and it's an honour to have our Full Circle 2006 at the top of the scorecard, as well as our Shiraz 2006 also receiving a gold medal. It's great that 2006 has been released on such a high note; it augurs well for the vintage in general and a continued consistency of results overall."

The 2006 Full Circle is a blend of 86% Shiraz, 9% Mourvedre and 5% Viognier. It was barrel matured for 18 months in new French oak barrels. Consistent with the 2006 vintage, the wine shows finely structured tannins with good balance and elegance. The flavour profile is layered with a centre of red and dark berry fruit topped with violet notes and a seasoning of spice.

Position	Wine	Vintage	Category
1	Saronsberg Full Circle	2006	Rhone blend
2	Grand Provence	2006	Chardonnay
3	Bosman Family Vineyards Adama	2007	Unusual red
4	Zorgvliet Richelle	2005	Bordeaux
=5	Glen Carlou	2007	Chardonnay
=5	Saronsberg	2006	Shiraz
7	Klein Zalze	2008	Chenin blanc
8	Morgenster Lourens River Valley	2004	Bordeaux
9	Klein Constantia	2006	Cabernet Sauvignon
10	Anura	2007	Pinotage

1. Winemaker of the overall top-scoring wine - Dewaldt Heyns for his Saronsberg Full Circle 2006 Rhone Blend - has won a weekend away during March to October 2009 at any of the three hotels within The Collection by Liz McGrath - The Cellars-Hohenort, The Marine in Hermanus and The Plettenberg.

2. The top-scoring white wine sponsored by Chefs & Sommelier Open Up Glasses is the Grande Provence Chardonnay 2006

3. The top-scoring red wine sponsored by Standard Bank is the Saronsberg Full Circle 2006 Rhone Blend.

It was a great honour to have Magandeep Singh on the panel as he brings a wealth of experience in the retail and education fields. As a buyer for a number of international hotel groups, he was able to enlighten the judges on what the global consumer is looking for when buying a wine. Singh is an sommelier and journalist, as well as independent consultant to the ITC Sheraton and Taj hotels and the Moët-Hennessy group.

We were also privileged to have the following Cellar Masters as part of the judging panel:

Other judges included Michelle Michaels from The Marine in Hermanus, Cape Wine Masters Junel Vermeulen, Dick Davidson and Greg de Bruin and those responsible for national sales and distribution at Makro - Riekie Strydom and Jacquie Hanns.

· Thereafter a verbal discussion allocated them a Gold, silver or Celebrated Collection ranking.

· All gold winners were re-tasted to give the overall, top-scoring wine of the Award.

As Pieter Ferreira from Graham Beck said about the tasting process, "The tasting panel was nice and diverse from a professional sommelier, to winemakers, to Cape Wine Masters, to 'general' trade/public. Such diversity definitely makes this competition unique."

He continued, "I liked the idea of two panel groups and the opportunity to cross-taste categories. Our panel debated a lot which is healthy and should be encouraged for all tastings. It seems that you attract the right wines to this competition. The quality of the wines were all above-average to brilliant."

There will be public tastings of the Award Winners in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, East London, at the Marine Hotel in Hermanus and the Plettenberg Hotel in Plettenberg Bay. I hope to host a tasting in Monte Carlo in 2009.