The winner of the 6th Concours International des Jeunes Sommeliers will be announced at a gala dinner and induction ceremony which will take place at the Table Bay Hotel on Friday 21 September.
The Concours International des Jeunes Sommeliers is one of the programmes through which the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs works to improve the standard of wine appreciation around the world - but it's also a hotly contested competition which demands extraordinary knowledge and skills.
The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs an international association of gastronomy with more than 25,000 members in 70 countries is to bring together amateurs and professionals from all over the world, whether they are hoteliers, restaurateurs, executive chefs or sommeliers, in the appreciation of fine cuisine.
The development of skills and 'know-how' of young chefs and sommeliers worldwide is aimed at through the support of the 'Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs' and the 'Jeunes Sommeliers' competitions.
"Jeunes Sommeliers are wine professionals of between 21 and 35 years of age," said François, who is the current president of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs South Africa, and who has partnered with immediate past president Allison Rutowitz on the competition's local organising committee.
"Every one of the finalists who'll be competing in Cape Town this week has an enormous knowledge of the wine and spirits of the world, and also has a particularly well developed nose and palate - you have to, if you're going to work at their level," said François.
The competition itself will include an hour long theory test, blind tastings, practical skills challenges (champagne service, decanting of red wine, glass service, wine and food pairing) and the identification of spirits and liqueurs purely by nose.
The competitors will also be expected to make corrections to deliberate mistakes in a wine list that will feature both famous and little-known products from around the world.
"This is the first time this competition has ever taken place on the African continent, and that's a huge honour for South Africa, and our local wine industry," said François. Entries have been received from Australia, Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and the USA. But the event won't only be about the hard work of the competition.
"We'll be taking the competitors to some of the best wine producing regions in the peninsula - it's the perfect opportunity to show off the quality and value of South Africa's wines," said Francois.
Brilliant chefs Ryan Harris, Wayne Labuschagne and Heyn Neethling; star attraction Jan Van Tonder; and owner, Sandra Harris with Francois Ferreira at a recent literary food and wine evening at The Rose on York Restaurant. Ferreira always acts as MC at these very popular and highly enjoyable monthly events at The Rose. Don't miss out on the next one!
ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
