Just under half a century ago the world of fine wine was transformed when Steven Spurrier’s “Judgment of Paris” tasting in Paris saw the best Californian wines trump their greatest French counterparts. The judges at this legendary occasion included Aubert de Villaine, owner of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Odette Khan, editor of La Revue du Vin de France, Pierre Bréjoux, Inspector Générale of the Appellation d'Origine Controlée and a couple of sommeliers from the most famous three-Michelin-star restaurants in Paris. The American judges were a group of top Napa winemakers who had come to France to tour the French wine-producing areas.
It was this tasting, and the shock waves which followed the announcement of the results, which opened the world of fine wine from a narrow club of Old World producers to the universe we take for granted today. Spurrier went on to become one of the great and universally admired figures in the world of wine. He was a judge at The Trophy Wine Show on two occasions, most recently in 2015. In his autobiography, A Life in Wine he describes his experience judging at the competition, and the impression it made on him as a Show Chairman. “This tasting was conceived and chaired by the country's leading wine authority Michael Fridjhon, and the rigour of the judging and the reputation of the results is such that the show attracts the best wines from the top producers. In his [Fridjhon's] opinion judging wine is 'an approval rating that quantifies how successfully the winemaker achieved what he set out to do.'” Briefing the Decanter judges a little after his last visit to South Africa, he made the point that “only by listening very carefully to what the wine is saying can one judge it correctly.”
This year The Trophy Wine Show shared its platform of excellence with Investec. This partnership unites Investec’s “Out of the Ordinary” approach to service with the competition’s commitment to identifying South Africa’s best wines. With just under 700 wines on the tasting benches, the outcome was pretty much in line with the two decade average: only 30 gold medals awarded (which in turn yielded a paltry 18 Best-in-Class Trophies); a mere 134 silver medals and 346 bronze awards. Over the two decades of its existence, half the wines entered have won no medal at all. As past judge Jancis Robinson MW OBE famously observed: The Trophy Wine Show is “possibly the toughest competition in the world.” This is as it should be: the purpose of the show is to serve consumers, rather than to make producers feel good.
The time has now arrived for wine enthusiasts to discover what the judging panels thought about the wines -many from the country's best known and most reputable wineries. Wines are scored on the International 100 point system, where 85 –89 equals a bronze medal, 90 –94 earns a silver medal, and 95 (and above) a gold medal. The results, made public at an awards function hosted at Investec in Cape Town on 6th July, are available on The Trophy Wine Show website. The winning wines are available here from Port2Port.
