Young Writers celebrated for contribution to wine industry
Wednesday, 27 November, 2013
Veritas
Marthelize Tredoux was last night (25 November) elected as the overall
winner of the first ever Young Wine Writers Competition celebrating the
might of the pen.
“Tredoux is an established and well-published wine writer for www.winewhiskers.co.za and www.wine-sa.co.za, and shows superb insight into the industry and the wines about which she writes,” says Dave Hughes, one of the team of formidable wine journalists who served as judges in this competition initiated by the South African National Wine Show Association (SANWSA). Tredoux pocketed R15 000 in prize money. “I’m grateful that my passion for wine was acknowledged and rewarded in this way,” says Tredoux. “This competition is really a commendable initiative.”
Runner-up Ricardo Gouveia, a professional property valuator by trade, spends his spare time tasting and writing about wine. As a member of the Cellar Rats Wine Tasting Club and on the tasting panel of Winestyle, he has written wine reviews for www.realtimewine.co.za and has kept a personal wine blog (www.thewineoak.com) active for the past two years. Gouveia received R7 500. “I’m ecstatic about this award,” says Gouveia. “Even just the trip down to the Cape Winelands was a treat enough – the award came as a complete bonus.”
“This competition is one of the ways in which the wine industry clearly shows that it is keeping up with the revolution taking place in the media and technology spheres,” says Charles Hopkins, Chairman of SANWSA who initiated this competition. “Creatively singing the praises of good wines with the written word, is just as essential as making them and we are encouraging a new generation of wine writers to embrace this vibrant industry. It is vital that we keep the level of dialogue about wine dynamic and utterly credible.” Eleven wine writers between the ages of 18 and 35 entered for the competition.
The judging panel comprised of several prominent wine personalities who are well known for their journalistic prowess, including David Biggs, Michael Fridhjon, Cathryn Henderson, Edo Heyns, Dave Hughes, Danie Keet, Neil Pendock and Samarie Smith. Young wine writers were invited to submit an article on the role of wine in everyday life or the difference between wines that are enjoyed as quaffers and wines that do justice to certain cuisine. An additional blog post about the most unusual wine that the writer has ever tasted had to accompany the entry. No persons in full-time employment as wine writers were permitted to enter.
The winning articles by Marthelize Tredoux and Ricardo Gouveia can be read on the Veritas website at www.veritas.co.za.
The other nine entrants were Tharisa Coetzee, Jemma Grobbelaar, Harry Haddon, Thalia Hamilton, Leigh-Ann Luckett, Jacques Steyn, Marian Thomas, Molisa Tshepang, and Khail van Niekerk.
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