Hello Quaffers,
Busy times in the wine world at the moment!
Auction season has started with Nederburg kicking off with their pre-Auction press tasting yesterday which will be closely followed by the Cape Winemakers Guild auction public tasting. Tickets are now on sale.
There are events all over the place – The Winter Wine Party this weekend, Shiraz Showcase and Big Bottles in August – and in the midst of all this, we are proud to be associated with the newest awards on the block, the South African Wine List Awards 2012.
South African Wine List Awards 2012
Food and wine are lifelong buddies – but I can’t tell you how many times good food has been spoiled for me by a terrible wine list.
And there is simply no excuses in SA – we make some of the most amazing wines in the world, so how is it still possible that wine by the glass options in some restaurants can still be limited to ‘Dry, semi-sweet or red’? It’s unforgiveable, and it’s a situation that Michael Olivier and Mike Bampfield-Duggan are trying to change by instituting these awards.
I loved judging these wine lists – the best ones at the top end of the scale simply made me so happy with their interesting choices, excellent options by the glass and useful information – everything a good list should have. But I also loved the smaller lists, the 20-40 wine ones, because it was so heartening to see the care people have taken over their selections in order to offer as much interest and excitement as possible.
I’d like to say a huge ‘well done’ to all the successful lists and I hope you take a lot of pride in your achievement because (let’s face it) nothing to do with running a restaurant is easy these days.
You’ve gone the extra mile and made an effort and I, for one, will be making sure that I support your commitment to good wine in the future. I hope you will also add your support to these restaurants and help keep them – and good wine lists – alive and kicking in SA!
Kind regards,