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Well the worst kept secret in the local spittoon is now finally out in the open. If Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year Clayton Reabow only joined Franschhoek producer Môreson in May 2007, how much of the winning wine, a Môreson 2007 Reserve Chardonnay, did he actually make? A question asked by Michael Fridjhon in Business Day on Wednesday. According to Diners Club Western Cape regional manager Jane Ledger, Clayton was responsible for “barrel selection, final blend, and bottling” and Diners were presumably aware of the timing issue as their own press release supplies the facts, reporting “he joined Môreson, as winemaker, in May 2007.” So Diners claim he did enough, although others beg to differ.
Clayton at the Diners Club awards lunch
Someone calling herself “Bertus” spilt the beans in public two weeks ago in a comment on this blog, which was how last year’s Diners Club stock scandal broke. A posting still top of the pops on this blog. Confirming the investigative power of blogs and the dizzying speed with which news travels round the spittoon when agitated vigorously with a punch-down pole. That no-one took Bertus’ bait is probably due to a widespread desire among winemakers I spoke to for Diners not to take their sponsorship away from this competition and the annual wine list awards and apply it to something less controversial like golf, drum majorettes or astrology. Although in the light of their recent run of bad luck, you could hardly blame them if they do.
What SA wine does not need is the orgy of messenger drive-by shooting that happened last time Michael pulled the pin and reported on those jolly green peppers bobbing around in the Sauvignon Blanc tank. As the most experienced wine scribe left standing, Michael is well within his rights to ask the hard question and who knows, perhaps the publicity storm howling around Franschhoek at the minute may boost Môreson Chardonnay sales. After all, why did Duncan Savage not have sufficient stock last year? Because his wines are so sought after, they fly out the cellar before you can count them!
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Clayton, you’re hot! So you didn’t ferment the grapes – big deal, you bottled the wine and you can pull my cork anytime!
Clayton! OMG Gorgeous, all is forgiven. I can tell that you stirred the lees!
wonder why clayton or moreson hasn’t released a statement or commented on any of the available articles…? maybe because they got shut up, after all that is the best way to have people forget…surprise, people in the wine industry never forget?
Why WOULD Clayton have to respond to any of this?
What I do not understand about this whole controversy is why poor Mr Reabow is getting attacted personally. It is clear from the Diner’s Club’s press release (Their magazine was printed before the awards were announced) they were fully aware of the fact the Clayton only started at Moreson in May 2007, proving that he never lied about anything when entering the competition.
So if you are not happy about the results – you are entitled to have your own opinions – should it not be Diner’s Club are slating and not attacking someone personally?? Or maybe check out the Diner’s Club Young Winemaker of the Year rules, which does not specifically state that you have to ferment the juice.
It saddens me that in an industry that should stick together in order to conquer the rest of the world’s market, everyone is overly excited to put their peers down.
it’s seems to me that we have a bit of a personal clash here. maybe a fellow contestant that didn’t feature?
ooh! as a member of the public i am extremely excited about this news! the premises on which Clayton won (”barrel selection, final blend, and bottling”) also allow me to enter the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year competition – i faired EXTREMELY well at one of the Blaauwklippen Blending Competitions! methinks i have what it takes to become one of SA’s best “winemakers”! (just have to make sure i make enough though – don’t want to relinquish the prize like Duncan Savage…)
i see next year’s catagory is “Dry Red” – perfect for mixing! yay!
tc, unfortunately when you enter a competition ie. chef of the year, you cannot use someone elses recipes…it has to be original, in other words, originally from your own grey matter…out of principal, clayton entered the wine knowing it wasnt his recipe ( you understand it better now? )…common winemaking sense.. or so would be expected. when boundaries like these are overstepped, issues like this unfortunately do become personal because its no longer a matter of sticking by the rules, but it becomes more of a moral issue. me personally don’t make wine so i was not in the running for the comp, but as mentioned by blender above, maybe next year we can all have a go…
i also believe that clayton has much to say but i would also be quiet if told so by the organisers, thats unless he wants hand down to more deserving winners in this case danie de wet from de wetshof…
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Marc Afton-Cooper
November 20, 2009 at 12:14 pmHi Neil, I see that on the original Thomas Jefferson posting there are 5 comments on the toolbar but only 4 comments visible. Is it possible that there is something even more controversial being hidden from us? And can we expect more to therefore come to light? Good sleuthing here, Bertus, Michael and Neil.