Entries now open for 2013 Competition
Entries
for First Round of The Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award 2013 are now
open and candidates are urged to enter soon as entries close on the 31 May 2013.
See below for entry details.
The high standards attained by previous
winners, Wayve Kolevsohn in 2012 (Sommelier at The Roundhouse at the time and
currently Sommelier at The Test Kitchen) and Joakim Hansi
Blackadder in 2011
(Sommelier at The Roundhouse at the time and now at Rust en Vrede), have set
the benchmark for aspirant sommeliers. As with the 2011 and 2012 competitions,
the winner of the 2013 competition will be announced in November 2013 and will
win a trip to France including a trip to the prestigious House of Champagne
Bollinger. Wayve Kolevsohn is presently in Champagne enjoying her prize and
celebrating her victory, no doubt with a glass or two of Champagne Bollinger.
The 2012 Awards
runner-up, Kayetan Meissner, a Sommelier at the Saxon
Boutique Hotel in Johannesburg, won a one night stay for two, including bed and breakfast,
at Ellerman House, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
This
annual competition, which is aimed at enhancing and recognising the calibre of
local sommeliers and wine service staff, was launched in 2011 and proved to be
a resounding success.
Ginette
de Fleuriot, Marketing Manager at Vinimark The Wine Company and organiser of
The Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award anticipates more entries this
year, “We look forward to
an increased number of entrants for The Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service
Award 2013 and to wider representation from all of South Africa’s premier
tourist regions.”
Champagne
Bollinger is proud to be the main sponsor of the prestigious The Bollinger
Exceptional Wine Service Award. The competition
is a joint initiative between Vinimark
The Wine Company (importer of Champagne Bollinger and South Africa’s largest
independent specialist wine wholesaling company) and The Reciprocal Wine
Trading Company, importers and distributors of Riedel Glassware.
Ginette de Fleuriot comments further,
“This industry-wide initiative was established to advance the interests of all
of the country's fine wine producers, as well as those who make their living
from the sale of wine in hotels, restaurants and wine bars. The sponsors and
organisers trust that this competition will continue to act as a catalyst for
the hospitality industry to expand training facilities and support local
sommeliers and sommeliers-in-training, in the interests of all those who enjoy dining
out.”
Neil Grant, Chairperson of
the South African Sommelier Association (SASA), states: “Wine service has
a poor history in South Africa and only with incentives such as these will we
find an improvement within the industry. Chefs in South Africa over the past 10
years have proven how good they are and now wine stewards/sommeliers need to be
part of this movement so we can challenge the international markets.” SASA has
committed to mentoring the winning candidates to
further assist in guaranteeing continued professional wine service of an
international standard.
The competition entry criteria are:
·
Those currently employed in the service of food and wine and with
a history of a minimum of three years of such service.
·
Contestants are required to have substantial knowledge of the
local wine scene and of the professional service of both food and wine.
·
An adequate knowledge of international wine appellations and
styles of wine is also a prerequisite.
·
More importantly, however, the contest examines the ability of
those selling wine in the hospitality industry to relate what is produced in
South Africa to the expectations of international visitors more familiar with
the major wine producing regions of the world.
Competition dateline
First Round:
Registration Forms and the completed Question Paper are to be submitted
no later than 31 May 2013.
Second Round:
The Second Round will take place in August 2013 at venues to be
announced.
Final Round:
Finalists will compete in Cape Town in October 2013 at a venue to be
announced.
Competition
winner announcement: The winner of The Bollinger Wine Service
of Excellence Award will be announced in November 2013.
Judges
Judges at
all rounds of the competition will include internationally trained sommeliers;
Cape Wine Masters; and members of the hospitality trade.
To enter The Bollinger Exceptional
Wine Service Award
For more
information contact:
Ginette de
Fleuriot
Vinimark
Head Office
Email:
ginette@vinimark.co.za
Tel: 021 –
886 9165
or
Michael
Crossley
Reciprocal
Wines & Riedel Glassware
Email:
crossley@reciprocal.co.za
Tel: 011 –
482 9178
The
Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service 2012 Awards
2012
Winner:
·
Wayve
Kolevsohn: Previously employed at The Roundhouse in Camps
Bay and currently the Sommelier at The Test Kitchen, Cape Town;
2012 Runner-up:
Kayetan Meissner: A Sommelier at the Saxon
Boutique Hotel in Sandhurst, Johannesburg.
2012
Judges:
·
Mia
Martensson, Sommelier and Sales Manager for The Winery Of Good Hope
- Kent Scheermeyer, Sommelier and founder of
KSconsult
- Neil Grant, Sommelier and co-owner of Burrata
Restaurant, Cape Town
- Ginette de Fleuriot, Cape Wine Master &
Marketing Manager for Vinimark The Wine Company
- Higgo Jacobs, Sommelier and consultant
The finalists will be judged on wine
and food service and will be tested on the following:
•
wine
styles and terminology
•
wine
label information
•
wine
regulations
•
regions
of origin
•
major
international wine regions and their wines
•
identifying
wines in a blind tasting
•
service
techniques
•
food
and wine pairing
•
wine
storage
•
social
skills and ability to interact with the patron
Background on The Bollinger Wine
Service Award
One of the impediments to publicising the achievements of
South African wine has been the absence of a class of wine waiters able to
communicate the finer points of our wines and place them in an international
context.
The past few years have seen important changes which have
come some of the way in addressing this gap. These include the involvement of
the Cape Wine Academy in creating a qualification for wine service
professionals, and the investments in waiter training driven by WOSA (Wines of
South Africa) under the Fundi programme ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2010. The
increasing number of internationally trained sommeliers living and working in
South Africa is also no doubt contributing to a raised level of awareness
around issues of wine service.
An annual competition – aimed at encouraging those who seek
to make a living from wine service – is clearly part of the next stage.
Sponsored by Champagne Bollinger and with infrastructural support from Riedel
Glassware, The Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award has been established to
bring focus – and recognition of achievement – to the growing group of professional
wine waiters in South Africa.
The recently formed South African Sommelier Association(SASA) is fully behind The Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award and some of
its members will be judges at the competition. The association aims to provide
training and mentorship to guarantee the continuous development of professional
standards of wine service at the highest level.
ENDS
