The international judges said:

Steven Spurrier
'More ripeness, better vineyard management, better definition of fruit and much less oak intervention. Vibrant, experimental wines. It's hard to talk about faults, because I was positively impressed. The percentage of wines below half marks was very, very small indeed.'

Geoff Merrill
'I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. The Sauvignon Blanc are world class, with tremendous palate weight. Grapes are being picked ay physiological ripeness and alcohol levels are high. The Shiraz was also good although I was disappointed in the oak - a bit green and not properly cured.
The tannin structure of the Cabernet Sauvignons was lean and tannic ... a bit green and leafy, but also overworked. And don't overlook Pinotage! You've got something nobody else has. It's a national hero.'

Annnegret Reh-Gartner
'There were very few Rieslings ... I want to encourage those who make them to show their wines. The Chardonnays were very high in acidity, which takes away from their appeal. You might be able to enjoy a glass, but not finish a bottle.'

Egon Müller
'I can make a direct comparison with last year. Quality is much better. The best wines have much more natural ripeness and alcohol levels are higher, but your wines are fairly natural wines. Trust Nature and don't interfere!'

Lynne Sherriff
'SA wines are now more international - without losing their local charm. Overall, better than last year. The Shirazes are so exciting! Sauvignon Blanc also continues to excite. What is a little more worrying is the Cabernet Sauvignons - they are not getting to physiological ripeness in the cooler areas. But some of the red blends were just fabulous.'

Joelle Marti-Brown
'When I like a wine, I start salivating and thinking what food I could drink it with. I was a little disappointed in the Sauvignon Blancs - by the tenth one I was already bored. They were all taken out of the same mould and I didn't think them excellent. I got really got excited by the Semillons - they can be world class and Semillon is such a good food wine. I didn't understand the Pinot Noir - a versatile, capricious grape that is either right or wrong. Those we tasted didn't really make it. When you see the potential for some other grapes, it doesn't make sense to chose one that doesn't work.'

The local judges said:

Yegas Naidoo
Thought that this year the management of wood was far better. "Shiraz, as a category, was very elegant. The styling was so different that it could please everybody.' Some interesting Chardonnays ... some middling. Overall I was very impressed by the wines.'

Mzokhona Mvemve
Said up front that, as he was the youngest judge, with the least experience, he would give a personal view, which was: 'I liked the Sauvignon Blancs. I liked the balance. Cabernet Sauvignons were the weakest but the Shiraz and Pinotage were very exciting. I expected more of the Pinot Noir. Overall I found the reds to be high in alcohol, but acceptable on the palate. The impression in general is very exciting ... very exciting.'

On Pinotage: 'Pinotage is often criticised for its tannic structure, but I found the line up to have prominent fruit and forgiving tannins - to me indicative of good quality.'

Mzokhona agreed that Shiraz was the star of the show.

Carmen Stevens
'Shiraz was absolutely outstanding! The whole world seems to be in love with Shiraz. Winemakers are obviously making the wine with the finest attention to detail and it showed in the line-up.'

'I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of Pinotage - definitely an improvement on previous years. SA's winemakers are quite devided on what constitutes the definitive Pinotage, but I found the wines almost without exception to be higher in alcohol and therefore riper and fuller than previous years. It looks like we're getting the basics right here. In contrast I found some of the Cabs to be quite hard and green. The Cabs and Merlots were underperforming.'

Allan Mullins
Pointed out that this is the 20th  year of the SAA tasting and that SAA has made an exceptional contribution to the industry. He was personally disappointed to see so few Chenins and so little Rhine Riesling. 'I'm convinced Rhine Riesling is going to make a comeback.' He also made a plea for better wine education within South Africa. 'Producers should demand better service for their wines than wine stewards who know zip about their wines, and expect you to pay R200 a bottle for them!'

Tony Mossop
Pointed out that there is a need for the quality control process to be carried through to the end of the delivery. 'The wines we taste now may not be the wines that are on the plane.' He added that, while the process (of selection) was really good, it just has to be polished - and that this was not just a problem for SAA, but in other industries as well.

Also see http://allafrica.com/stories/200408310196.html - Wine Judge Warns Airline On Risks of Quality Control for a more elaborate version of Tony Mossop's views.