The blind tasting, jam packed with icons and award winning reds, was presented by two Masters of Wine, including one of South Africa's very own, and only the countries fourth to achieve this prestigious qualification, Greg Sherwood MW. The tasting line up featured: Buitenverwachting Christine 2004, Constantia Sherwood Berriman 2004, Constantia (Made at High Constantia's cellars. Scored 91/100 in Wine & Spirit Magazine UK - August 2008 edition) MR de Compostella 2004, Stellenbosch Vergelegen V 2004, Stellenbosch Meerlust Rubicon 2004, Stellenbosch De Toren Fusion V 2004, Stellenbosch Rustenberg John X Merriman 2004 (in Magnum), Stellenbosch Morgenhof Estate Red 2004, Stellenbosch Beyerskloof Field Blend 2004, Stellenbosch Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2004, Stellenbosch Warwick Trilogy 2004, Stellenbosch Rupert & Rothschild Baron Edmond 2004, Western Cape Presented in four flights to a panel of expert fine wine consumers, tasters were required to rank their first, second and third best wines, rating their first choice 3 points, their second choice 2 points and their third choice 1 point. Scores for the twelve wines were tallied at the end of the tasting and then wines were revealed. Other than the Constantia pair that opened the proceedings, the evening in reality doubled up as a battle of the blue blooded Simonsberg / Stellenbosch "grand cru classe" blends from South Africa's prime viticultural region. In assessing the results, Master of Wine Greg Sherwood said "it was always felt that it was going to be a close run affair. With such a high level of quality across the line up, the wines did South Africa proud. There can be no doubt that South African produces some of the best examples of a Bordeaux blend in the world." Based on the blind consumer scoring system, the results were as follows: Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2004 with 33 points Vergelegen V 2004 with 11 points Warwick Trilogy 2004 with 10 points MR de Compostella 2004 tied on 9 points Meerlust Rubicon 2004 tied on 9 points De Toren 2004 Fusion V 2004 tied on 9 points Rupert & Rothschild Baron Edmond 2004 tied on 9 points Buitenverwachting Christine 2004 with 8 points Rustenberg John X Merriman 2004 (Magnum) with 5 points Beyerskloof Field Blend 2004 with 3 points Morgenhof Estate Red 2004 tied on 2 points Sherwood Berriman 2004 tied on 2 points Amazingly, the results seemed to confirm the Platter's South African Wine Guide 2009 Winery of the Year accolade which was awarded to Kanonkop. Greg Sherwood MW continued "the congestion of scores around 9 points was pretty much what we expected might happen with so little separating the quality of this batch of prestige red wines. But for the Paul Sauer to walk away with the title of best red Bordeaux blend in the line up with a staggering 33 points is a true testament to the iconic lineage if this wine. Other than the Kanonkop, in reality it was a very close run affair." James Handford MW added "I had rather expected a few more stand out block busters in the line up, but overall, the quality was consistently very high. If you consider the price of these wines in relation to the best from Bordeaux, France or Napa Valley, they represent exceptional value for money and importantly, wines that are definitely ageworthy - something important for fine wine collectors globally." Greg Sherwood concluded "there is no question that along with Syrah, Syrah blends and perhaps a handful of top Cape blends, the Bordeaux red blend is certainly one of the strongest cards in the South African wine industries hand. No doubt about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts in this case!" Tasting hosted by Handford Wines on the 25th March 2009. 105 Old Brompton Road South Kensington London SW7 3LE Tel: 0207 589 6113 www.handford.net