The first of four tasting articles inspired by South Africa's most rigorous wine competition. See also Trophy Wine Show 2023 – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.
With gorgeous views of the Cape winelands just outside, I spent three days in May incarcerated in a windowless conference room in the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, such as the one shown below, judging wines in this year’s Trophy Wine Show, run by South African wine writer Michael Fridjhon and team. It is now sponsored by bankers Investec, whose logo is a zebra.
This was the third time I’d...