Presented as the best of SA, this year’s crop of 41 five star stunners in the Platter sighted wine guide were probably the first port of call for the pundits, pontificators and punters who thronged the stands of the biannual WOSA London Mega-Tasting earlier this week. Peter May, the Prophet of Pinotage put in an appearance as did keen amateur golfer and comedian Tim Atkin. But organizers of Veritas who revealed their 40 Double Gold Doozies in a sweaty Cape Town Convention Centre on Saturday night might be forgiven for thinking the wrong wines were being showcased, especially when their constituency picks up the lion’s share of WOSA’s bills.

For the two sets of stunners, chosen contemporaneously, have about as much in common as Ritsema de la Bat and Amy Winehouse. There was not a single wine that appeared on both lists. Heck, even WINE magazine’s Top Ten Sauvignons announced yesterday contained one Platter five star stunner (out of the five awarded). Ten points to ponder:

KWV Cellarmaster Richard Rowe and Lorna's husband, Dave Hughes at Veritas

1. The judges. Several judges serve on both panels – Cape Winemasters Meryl Weaver and Christine Rudman as well as experienced writer and all round nice guy Dave Biggs.

2. Both panels had a British MW onboard (Veritas had Lynne Sherriff, Platter the editor’s wife Cathy van Zyl) while the Veritas line-up was seriously strengthened by foreign judges of the caliber of Aussie guru Ian “Macca” McKenzie who got KWV back on track after some green peppers fell into their Sauvignon Blanc tanks (an event so dark outgoing KWV chairman Danie de Wet refused even to mention it directly in his farewell dinner on Tuesday evening). Of course one swallow does not make a summer or you unable to operate heavy machinery, but as wines were discussed in the tasting process, the presence of several experienced tasters at Veritas helped mitigate against overlooking any sleeping beauties.

3. The judging process is where the main differences occur. Platter wines are evaluated sighted and then nominated for five stars, where they are judged blind. This year 41 got through the yea/nay process from 105 submissions. Veritas deliberations are blind and each of the 1728 entries had an equal chance at Double Gold Glory.

4. Competence. All Veritas judges are required to have “a wine judging certificate from the University of Stellenbosch, a Cape Winemaster’s Diploma or similar accreditation.” No such competency is required for Platter and indeed several tasters have no formal qualifications. Although this does not mean that a judge holding a certificate of competency from the Michael Fridjhon/WINE magazine Tasting Academy is necessarily a worse taster than an MW.

5. Platter pundits come from diverse backgrounds: picture framers, housewives, sommeliers, retailers, winemakers, contraversialists and vanity bloggers while Veritas judges are overwhelmingly professional winemakers and overwhelmingly Afrikaans speakers, while Platter pundits speak the Queen’s English (and little else) and raise their left pinkies in salute when they take tea.

6. Number of judges. Platter typically employs between 15 and 20 pundits, Veritas around 100. Since Platter evaluates almost four times as many wines as Veritas, this means that each Platter pundit rates almost twenty times as many wines as each Veritas judge. Individual opinions play a far larger role in Platter than they do in Veritas where panels operate in teams of seven.

7. Most Platter pundits are paid R55 per wine written-up. Veritas judges toil unpaid, leading Duimpie Bayly, chairman of the National Wine Show to joke “the dop system is not yet dead.”

8. The wines. While Platter is by no means a complete inventory of the national cellar, the 2010 edition will feature “nearly 6000” wines as opposed to the 1728 submitted to Veritas. The 41 Platter five star stunners came from 33 producers and nearly half (14) also submitted wines to Veritas: Fleur du Cap, Nederburg, Tokara, Cape Point Vineyards, Woolworths, Neil Ellis, Spier, Saxenburg, Buitenverwachting, Boplaas, Beyerskloof, De Krans, Lomond and Beaumont – giving ample scope for coincidence.

9. But perhaps the biggest point of divergence is in the criteria (subconsciously) assumed for quality. In the case of Veritas, this is market ready drinkability as confirmed by that supermarket favourite Spier trousering over 10% of the Double Golds. In the case of Platter a more elitist ethic applies, as confirmed by the lobbying to declare flying winemaker Eben Sadie top producer.

The Veritas Double Gold roll call bristles with value for money gems like the Table Bay 2009 Sauvignon Blanc made for the Ultra Liquors chain at under R30 (as opposed to R550 for Eben’s Columella). Although TB is unlikely to receive a Platter five star recommendation anytime soon as it would take a brave pundit indeed to nominate it, Michael Fridjhon being perhaps the only Platter pundit with sufficient self-confidence to do so.

10. Veritas showcases its Double Gold selections around the country in public tastings in Cape Town, Sandton, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Knysna while Platter five star wines remain exotic myths for most SA wine lovers unless they attend the Mega-Tasting, for which a visa is now required for those travelling on an SA passport.

Surely the time has come to take the Verdict of Veritas to London to present a more populist view of the top end of SA wine?

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