Wines of South Africa Netherlands Sommelier Cup and Dynamic and Brave Tasting Amsterdam 9 May 2016
On Monday May 9th fourteen talented sommeliers competed in the Wines of South Africa Sommelier Cup country semi final for The Netherlands in Hotel de l’Europe, Amsterdam.
The sommeliers had to complete a blind tasting test of six South African wines and a theoretical examination of 30 questions on South African wine.
The jury consisted of René van Heusden (also the chairman of the Dutch National Championships for Sommeliers), Heleen Boom (owner and sommelier of Restaurant Bouwkunde and vice chairperson of the Dutch Guild of Sommeliers) and Ronald Opten (Maître Restaurant La Rive).
Marijn Smit of Restaurant Vroeg was the overall winner with Richelle van Gemert (Restaurant Cordial) finishing second and Ruben Kwakman (Restaurant le VIN’x) coming third.
Marijn will compete in the Wines of South Africa Sommelier Cup final against other international sommeliers on September 23rd.
The competition was followed by a generic trade tasting showcasing close to 50 top wine brands from South Africa. The tasting was called “Dynamic and Brave South Africa” and importers showed why South Africa is one of the most exciting wine producing countries at the moment, sharing the stories and wines of the winemakers they represent. Wines of South Africa partnered with Perswijn Magazine to have maximum reach in trade. The tasting was aimed at the on-trade and specialist retail and was attended by over 100 trade and media - a good turn-out for this kind of event. The talented sommelier group “We are Sommos” also had a stand – where top sommeliers showed their favourite SA wines in the on-trade. We also included a “general” table of 20 different wines.
South Africa still holds the second biggest market share in The Netherlands, after France, and is listed in the top 5 exporting countries for South Africa. The perception is clearly shifting from South Africa being seen as “cheap and cheerful” to specialist retailers and sommeliers taking increasing interest in South Africa as a supplier of interesting premium wines. Importers are still adding new and interesting brands to their portfolios and South Africa remains a popular destination for Dutch trade and tourists.
Videos of the day can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajFtcsEPquc
A list of the participating brands can be viewed here: Deelnemerslijst Dynamisch en Moedig Zuid-Afrika
Cees van Casteren recently wrote an interesting article for Meininger’s on the traditional retail market which can be viewed in the online library