The Wine Show “Taste Team” are 6 wine lovers drawn from the members of our and are all visitors to the Show. They’ve been selected to taste and rate wines from the Show every month as a fun service to all our visitors. Most have no formal wine training, but know what they like and want to tell you all about the goodies!

Robyn Saul

30 yr old costume and dress-up fan Robyn caught our attention when telling us about her last glass of wine: “Come Hither” beckons the Odd Bins 269, as she drags you, far from unwilling, into her dark velvety boudoir. Who doesn’t want a glass of that!

Having all 5 senses (touch, taste, sight, sound and smell) and her own opinion, she was perfectly qualified to join the Taste Team and we’re delighted to have her onboard! Robyn also comes with exciting Karate-Chop Action (Jitsu, actually).

Noluthando Ncube

Ms. Ncube was “determined to get some culture” and thought our Taste Team would be the perfect place to do just that. She’s eager to learn all about wine and wine tasting, calls herself a fun and outgoing communicator and says she loves talking about “anything and everything under the sun”. Vines grow in the sun, their grapes make wine. This should be a good fit.

Originally from Zimbabwe, Noluthando sent us a brutally honest review of a Sauvignon that’s one of her Mom’s favourites, adding “having someone totally unschooled in all things vino will guarantee honest reviews”. We say “cheers to that”!

Pieter de Klerk

Pieter’s association with The Wine Show has been a fruitful one. He won a coveted place in The Whole Nine Yards vintage tasting at this years Show (worth R9,000!) and was very persuasive with his Taste Team application.

Pieter, 38, is something of a wine fanatic. He completed 2 Cape Wine Academy courses whilst still at varsity (but neglected to mention which degree he attained), has won the Pretoria Wine Taster of the Year Award each time he entered it (twice), Wine magazine has published 3 of his letters, and he co-chairs a local wine club called “The Noble Rotters”. He also appears to be a hit with the ladies.

Simonne Adcock

Straight talking Simonne, 28, was one of the first Taste Team applications to arrive at The Wine Show. Wine seems to be a way of life to Mrs. Adcock. All applicants were asked to describe their next glass of wine, to which Simonne answered “…well deserved”! Great answer.

Finding her passion for wine whilst working at Brown’s of Rivonia, her group of girlfriends shamelessly call themselves “ The Wine Hags”. Having polished off a bottle of Pinotage ’04, Simonne told us it was “serious, and spicy. Would have been perfect with an awesome piece of red meat”. We’re looking forwards to letting Simonne know most steak orders take 20 mins max, and if you order it at the same time as the bottle there should be enough wine left when the food arrives… unless you are sharing the bottle, obviously.

David Porter

David’s a 26 yr old Management Consultant (with one of the biggies). Whilst he hasn’t had any formal wine training, he’s had a thesis published : “The Placebo effect in Wine Marketing”. In order to complete this arduous work, David had to host many wine tastings, both sighted and unsighted (we assume he means the bottles…) where he had to explain the art to less experienced wine tasters. We’re sure we’ve bumped into him in the kitchen many times, usually berating the hopelessly drunk lady with ice in her white.

Formal studies completed, David remains dedicated to research and told us “I have 4 house-mates, 2 guys & 2 girls (Aha ) and we host our own blind tasting events”. At the last one guests brought a bottle of red for under R50, which he says “was a fantastic way to identify a wine that’s value for money”. Well, if the Management Consultants aren’t watching the wallet, who will?

Ellen Crabtree

Ellen hails from chilly, but bonnie, Scotland but recently relocated to SA to run a Community Care Centre for people living with HIV in Hillbrow. When not caring for those in need, Ellen cares for good food and wine.

Having secured the WSET intermediate and advanced certificates (UK Wine & Spirit Education Trust) with distinction, she went onto win an essay competition for a piece she called "Tasting by numbers". The prize was GBP1,000 to spend on a trip to any wine region of her choice. Ellen chose South Africa... and the rest is history!