It is South Africa’s oldest and most well known wine competition. Adjudication will take place from Monday to Friday this week (4 to 8 September).

The panel includes the Australian expert, Bob Cartwright; well-known former auctioneer of the Nederburg Wine Auction, Patrick Grubb (MW) from Britain; respected Canadian wine writer, Steve Thurlow and the awarded French Sommelier and wine consultant, Joelle Marti-Baron. Bob Cartwright adjudicates at Veritas with the kind cooperation of SAA, as he also served on the panel of wine specialists that selected wines for SAA’s 2007 wine list.

Other familiar international faces behind the tasting glasses will be that of UK-based master of wine, Lynne Sherriff, Thomas Luber from Germany, Madelein Stenwerth from Sweden and of South African wine specialist and author, Dave Hughes.

This year’s entries will be evaluated at Nederburg in Paarl by 16 expert panels of seven judges each.

The Veritas Awards are presented by the South African National Wine Show Association (SANW) and has long been viewed as the real test for quality. A good result enables a producer to give esteemed status to a wine as he or she is allowed to fix a double gold, gold, silver or bronze sticker to a bottle. These serve as a consumers’ guide to quality and also assist overseas buyers in their choice of South African wines.

A total of 1 673 wines are competing in the taste-off on Nederburg. Shiraz, with 210 entries, was the largest class for the third consecutive year, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon (182) and Sauvignon Blanc (170).

The Veritas double gold and gold medals will be awarded to this year’s top achievers during a gala dinner – sponsored by Agri-Expo – at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday 6 October.

Contact Elsabé Ferreira at SANW, tel (021) 807 3104, e-mail ferreira@vinpro.co.za or visit www.veritas.co.za for further information.