After being blamed for the bad weather at last week’s launch of the Platter sighted wine guide that had anoraks huddled in Black Hole of Calcutta Conditions to pay homage to oxidative Shiraz, I made sure the weather at the Splash Café at the Vineyard Hotel was tip-top this afternoon for the launch of The People’s Guide. As Bob Dylan sang it “you don’t need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows” (especially in Cape Town) but an honest blind assessment for under R100 of some of the most widely available SA cuvees might come in useful to consumers, a market TPG is unashamedly aimed at. It seems that consumers agree as WINE magazine has come back to us twice to ask for more copies of TPG for the subscription special they are running (subscribe to WINE and receive a free copy of TPG).

The People's Guide was launched this afternoon

In the morning we collected our Portuguese taster, Aníbal Coutinho, from Cape Town International. Aníbal bounced off the plane with as much enthusiasm as the Portuguese soccer team who had qualified for 2010 the previous evening. He writes the annual Bible of Portuguese wines called Os Melhores Vinhos, a publication renamed to Guia Popular de Vinhos for the 2010 edition, which is a direct translation of our People’s Guide. So our initiative is making itself felt beyond the shores of SA.

We included 561 wines in the guide and the 70-odd we really liked were awarded Coup de Coeurs (or should that be Coups de Coeur?) which I translated as “blows to the heart” – wines that made an impression on one or more of our six tasters. “Heartbeat” corrected Pinot Prince Alex Dale, one we’re most happy to take on board as the most important lesson we learnt from this guiding process was quite how much we love SA wine.

We assembled a 2010 Dream Team of winemakers based on blind tasting performance. In fact, we like blind tasting so much, we even bought a guide dog for a blind person.

Oregon and friend

TPG Dream Team: The Bacchus Boys

With 2010 around the corner and the FIFA World Cup the biggest thing in SA wine since the Huguenots arrived in Franschhoek, we decided to assemble a dream winemaking team from the top-performers in our blind tastings for TPG. Here is the lineup:

Strikers

Miles Mossop (Tokara and Zondernaam): A David Beckham of the bottle and a joy to watch as his elegant whites delight the palate with nimble footwork.

Thys Louw (Diemersdal): Bipedal dexterity with knockout red and whites in his goal-scoring arsenal.

Midfield

Tariro Masayiti (Nederburg): This white wine maker is a big hit with fans who serenade him on their vuvuzelas at the Soweto Wine Show.

Sebastian Beaumont (Beaumont): Viticulturalist turned winemaker with a good understanding of the “pitch.”

Alex Dale (Winery of Good Hope): A Freddie Ljungberg lookalike who brings a fresh French flair to SA wines.

Defense

Linley Shultz (Distell, recently transferred): Vinous strategist behind the resurgent Two Oceans brand that launched on Tsunami of sales in the United States.

Jeff Grier (Villiera): Versatile midfield player with bubblies, whites and reds in his locker.

David Nieuwoudt (Cederberg): A high-altitude acrobat whose wines have a unique pyrotechnical style.

Charles Hopkins (De Grendel): An experienced player who has unlocked the potential of Durbanville Sauvignon Blanc – quite appropriate as De Grendel is Dutch for “lock.”

Goalkeeper

Marius Malan (Slaley): Agile like an antelope and nimble as a Narina Trogon, Marius is a master of good value and his saves save wine lovers a fortune.

Coach

Garry Jordan (Jordan): Extensive experience in the Stellenboschkloof, Cape Winemakers Guild and more recently the London restaurant scene will help this coach deliver the goods; and unlike Joel Santana, Gary speaks English good.

Alex Dale and Paul Cluver

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