The Veritas Awards are the Oscars of the SA wine world and the red carpet was rolled up to make way for a seventies revival dance floor at the Cape Town International Convention Centre last night. This being the 350th birthday year of SA wine, MC Bennie Howard admitted the National Wine Show was hoping for entries from 350 cellars but ended up with 1728 wines from 299 producers. 40 achieved the highest Double Gold accolade at a series of blind tastings and one winery – Spier in Stellenbosch – was responsible for 5 of these or over 10% of the total.

Fabulous Frans Smit, Spier Cellarmaster, hard at work last night

Spier is owned by insurance mogul Dick Enthoven who also owns the Nando’s Chicken franchise. So perhaps Dick can arrange for some samples to be showcased at his Nando’s outlet in Earls Court, the London suburb that will host the SA Mega-Tasting next Tuesday and Wednesday. After all, Spier Chardonnay with Chicken or Spier Pinotage plus Peri-Peri may be appreciated by punters who’ve spent the day tasting the best of SA chosen sighted for the Mega-Tasting.

A curious fact for numerically inclined tipplers is that all 5 Spier stunners come from the 2007 vintage and two are special bottlings for Woolies. Another figure for the record books is that the 40 Veritas Double Golds is one fewer than the 41 five star stunners chosen by the Platter wine guide last month, although there is not a single coincidence of a Veritas DG and a Platter high fiver, which is a bit of a worry. In effect we have a situation of two groups of “experts” each choosing their 40 best SA wines currently available and coming up with two lists so different, there is no overlap at all.

There are several reasons for this: many top-end producers like Kanonkop and Vergelegen do not enter Veritas while Platter is a much more Catholic, although by no means exhaustive, evaluation of the national cellar. But many Platter five star producers like Cape Point Vineyards, Tokara, Nederburg, Fleur du Cap, Lomond, Neil Ellis, Saxenburg, Beyerskloof and Boplaas do enter Veritas. So the absence of coincidences can only mean that the judges are applying different criteria – or they are incompetent.

The converse, of Veritas golden boys missing out on Platter plaudits, is muddied by the observation that Platter five star wines are nominated sighted while every one of the 1728 Veritas entries buys a ticket to the Double Gold tasting. It’s hard to imagine Platter pundits toiling away in deepest Kenilworth like sighted moles, nominating Aan de Doorns and Table Bay (the excellent house brand of Ultraliquors) for anything more than the vinegar vat, with the label in plain sight.

As that great American consumer and poet Robert Frost noted, “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (like the Checkers Wine Route, for example). The Veritas aisle proposes 40 bottles chosen blind by panels of mainly local winemakers plus some international experts. The Platter aisle offers 41 chosen blind from 105 wines nominated sighted by Platter pundits: housewives, retailers, vanity bloggers, winemakers and sommeliers. Mr. Frost “took the road less traveled by” and concluded “that has made all the difference.” But which path should SA consumers follow?

Lucky London luvvies can sample the Platter five star stunners in Earls Court next week at the aforementioned Mega-Tasting while SA wine lovers will be able to explore the Veritas route at a series of public tastings:

The Cape Town tasting takes place at the VOC Centre (Southern Sun Cape Sun, Strand Street) on 21 October 2009 from 17:00 until 20:00. Tickets cost R120. Gauteng wine connoisseurs can join in the fun at the Bill Gallagher Room at the Sandton Convention Centre on 27 October from 17:00 until 20:00 where tickets cost R130. Durbanites should reserve their places at the Function Room, Deloittes Head Office in Umhlanga for a tasting on 5 November from 17:00 until 20:00. Tickets cost R100. A limited number of tickets are available in advance at Computicket outlets nationwide or online at www.computicket.com.

A selection of the Veritas champs will also be available for tasting in Port Elizabeth (Squires Legendary Grill on 10 November) and Knysna (Kilzers Kitchen on 11 and 12 November). Bookings are to be made at the venues. Visit www.veritas.co.za for further information. A selection of the Veritas wines will also be available at From the Earth at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 16 to 18 October 2009.

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