After the announcement of the top 6 in this year’s official Cabernet Franc Challenge at Avontuur Estate in March, it was interesting to see the similarities between the crowd favourites at the Western Cape and Gauteng Carnivals and those of the judges in the blind tasting panel of the annual competition.
The Challenge Top 6 in alphabetical order are: Doolhof Wine Estate Single Vineyard Collection Cabernet Franc 2015, Kaapzicht Cabernet Franc 2014, My Wyn Cabernet Franc 2014, Nelson Wine Estate Lisha Nelson Cabernet Franc 2014, Rainbow’s End Wine Estate Limited Release 2015 and Warwick Estate Cabernet Franc 2013. Uva Mira was awarded a Gold Medal.
At the Western Cape event which took place on Saturday 20 May at Avontuur Estate (Also the sponsor of the Carnivals), the top 5 were: Hermanuspietersfontein, Rainbow’s End, Uva Mira, Doolhof and Nelson Vineyards.
In Gauteng at The Wanderers on Friday, 2 June the 5 crowd favourites were: Uva Mira, Hermanuspietersfontein, The Garajeest, Nelson and Raats.
“What is clear when looking at the overall scores from both events, is that the public mostly scored the same wineries highly in Cape Town and Gauteng, even taking into account that there were less and slightly different wineries present at the Gauteng event,” says organisor Cobie van Oort of CVO Marketing. “The “voting” adds a fun element to the event with the public enthusiastically supporting the scoring process.“
The winners of a selection of Cabernet Francs, kindly sponsored by the participating wineries are for the Avontuur event: David Taylor, Jani Kuipers and Zolia Rumble. In Johannesburg the winners are: Thato Ramagaga, Denton Claassens and Craig Morrissey.
Caption 1: Wilhelm Pienaar of HPF was passionate about the “Swartskaap” Cab Franc at the Cape Town Event.
Caption 2: Lara Shargey had no problems convincing fans of the quality of the Uva Mira The Dance Cab Franc in Johannesburg.