South Africa has crowned the 2015 Wine Tasting Champions

Press release:

The 15 best national tasters issued from the Provincial selections held in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town met at the luxurious TAJ Cape Town to face the hard challenging of identifying wines from around the world, and to decide who deserves to be the 2015 South African Champions.

Competitors had two hours to taste blind, and identify 12 wines from 8 different countries. To mark points they had to guess the country, the cultivar, the vintage, the appellation and the producer of the wines served to them in anonymous decanters.

The very diverse lineup of wines forced the contestant to use their talents. The organizer selected:

– Creation Sauvignon Blanc 2015 from South Africa
– Vinho Verde 2014 by Anselmo Mendes from Portugal
– Hardy’s Riesling 2013 from Australia
– Vincent Carême 2013 Vouvray from France
– Steenberg Semillon 2013 from South Africa
– Hess Collection Chardonnay 2010 from California (USA)
– Beaumont 2012 Pinotage from South Africa
– Cassilero del Diablo 2013 Carmenere from Chile
– Trapiche 2014 Malbec from Argentina
– Spice Route 2012 Syrah Terra de Bron from South Africa
– Barbera d’Asti 2012 by Marchesi di Gresy from Italy
– Peter Lehmann 2012 Shiraz from Australia

The 2015 National Champion is Ralph Reynolds, achieving a staggering 71 points, a score that would have secured him a seat among the top 12 at last year world championships. He is followed by Anita Streicher-Nel, Joseph Dhafana, Chris Groenewarld and Tawanda Marume on the podium of the best wine tasters for 2015.

Open to all wine lovers, sommeliers, winemakers and true amateurs, the Provincial selections of the South African Wine Tasting Championships brought together the most talented tasters from all around South Africa, offering them a possibility to qualify for Team South Africa which participates to the World Championship in France on the 17th of October. The Team South Africa 2015 that will be led by Ralph Reynolds will soon be announced, and will train to show the world that South Africa has wine tasting talents!

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