JULY 2011 Edition

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show

The Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show is one of South Africa's premier wine competitions. It recognises the top local wines and winemakers, and honours excellence in the wine industry. This year we celebrate the 10th year anniversary of this prestigious event. Judging of the wine took place early in May with the announcement of the 2011 winners on 01 June.

This month we decided to send two of our Taste Team members to the public tasting of the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. The public tastings were held in both Cape Town and Johannesburg, presenting wine lovers with an opportunity to sample some of the best wines offered in South Africa.

Here's what Pieter and Robyn had to report back on the evening...

PIETER: To my mind, big wine competitions are a bit pointless. Research has shown that their results are as close to random as a three year-old boy is to trouble. Add to this the fact that even the most talented and experienced wine tasters are far from immune to the palate fatigue and mental demands encountered at these tastings, plus the general speed of tasting (scant time for wines to evolve in the glass) and I'm personally left mostly underwhelmed by any competition bling stuck to wine bottles.

The big plus that does emanate from some of these competitions is the opportunity afforded to normal wine lovers like môi to sample the wines for ourselves. True, I'm afforded even less chance than the judges of tasting properly as I jostle from table to table trying to taste everything before the orgy of wine comes to an end. To complicate matters further, it requires an extra effort to avoid whiplash from all the beautiful women in the room inadvertently hijacking my attention, making my head go off in one direction while my body wanders off elsewhere. Typically (with big tastings) a few clumsy, over-worked wines found themselves awarded in 2011 – especially on the red side – but there was enough good stuff to get excited about.

I ended up missing out on about ten wines or so. I blame it on the women.

ROBYN: I like the Old Mutual Trophy Show. It has a reasonable entry, an excellent line-up of wines and (usually) a certain air of snobby prestige, even if it has been getting a bit over-crowded and opportunistic in the last few years, that I enjoy pretending to fit into.

This year saw the move to the Sandton Southern Sun and to a bigger venue (although they still made the dumb mistake of crowding stalls in corners and leaving the centres wide open). The crowd changed a little too – for the better (although I really failed to notice all these 'women' Pieter mentions, clearly I have more focus on my wine!)

On the wine front, I was a little disappointed. Last year featured an unbelievable line-up of the country's best Shiraz as well as many more. Most of these seem to have collected the accolades needed to launch reputations, and avoided this year's show – more is the pity for us quasi-freeloaders.

Revelation of the tasting:

PIETER: Hillcrest Quarry Merlot 2008 and 2009. Steer clear if you like tutti-frutti Merlot. This is serious, age worthy Merlot that smacks of Bordeaux. The best SA Merlot I've tasted in some time.

ROBYN: KWV White Jerepigo 1933 – a very kind gentleman allowed me a drink from his glass. Not wanting to take advantage, I had the barest of sips, but wow! The experience was almost beyond description; tangy, textured, sweet, toffee'd. The thought of it still makes me shiver.

Best Bubbly:

PIETER: Pongráçz Desiderius 2003. Yeasty, complex, interesting and juicy. The best on show by a country mile.

ROBYN: I wasn't on a bubbly mission, so I only caught the Desiderius, but what a pleasant surprise after some of the lesser Pongracz offerings I've had. Superb finesse and a well-rounded wine that carried a complexity to match its bubbles. I wish I could afford to drink this more often, but I'll grab a bottle of this over Veuve any day!

Best White:

PIETER: Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2007. Complete, complex, classy.
Notables: Steenberg Magna Carta 2007, Cape Point Vineyards Semillon 2006. Loads and loads of excellent white wines on show!

ROBYN: Delaire Chenin Blanc 2010. Lovely mellow wooded notes rounded out an exceedingly flavourful wine. I know I'm a sucker for my wooded whites, but this was gooood drinking.
Notables: Loved the Nederburg Reserve Riesling and Ingenuity, plus Tariro Masayiti played a charming host.

Best Red:

PIETER: Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. Classic, powerful and pedigreed.
Notables: La Motte Pierneef Collection Shiraz Viognier 2008, Kanonkop Pinotage 2009 and most of the Pinot Noirs (or is that Pinots Noir?!)

ROBYN: Spier Private Collection Shiraz 2008. I avoid Spier as a tourist trap, but they're making some seriously good wines these days. The PC Shiraz was probably the only one playing the same league as last year's Shiraz stunners.
Notables: Spier Creative Block 5 2008 and Stark-Conde Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Best Sticky:

PIETER: KWV White Jerepigo 1933. Awesomeness. Enough acid and complexity to elevate the preposterous 414.65 g/l sugar to something ethereal. They don't make 'em like this anymore!

ROBYN: KWV aside, Alvi's Drift Muscat de Frontignan 2007. Tasted like sunshine, and the winemaker's beaming smile when I told him it had "great acidity" propelled this way ahead of the more one-dimensional 'sticky' competition.

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