{"id":22938,"date":"2011-07-20T01:22:45","date_gmt":"2011-07-19T23:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=22938"},"modified":"2011-07-20T01:22:45","modified_gmt":"2011-07-19T23:22:45","slug":"western-cape-sparkles-in-bollinger-exceptional-wine-service-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/western-cape-sparkles-in-bollinger-exceptional-wine-service-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Cape sparkles in Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Six of the ten Semi-Finalists for the Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award come from Cape Town and the Winelands, and go through to the Semi-Finals, which take place in Cape Town and Johannesburg next month.<\/p>\n

The Semi-Finalists come from top hotels and restaurants.\u00a0 In the Cape they are Gregory Mutambe from the Twelve Apostles Hotel, David Nel from La Colombe, Joakim Blackadder from The Roundhouse, Josephine Gutentoft from Grande Roche, Carl Habel from the Mount Nelson, and Wayve Kolevsohn from Le Quartier Fran\u00e7ais.\u00a0 The Oyster Box’s Eric Botha is the sole KwaZulu-Natal Semi-Finalist, while Mike Buthelezi from Signature, Sean Trollip from Kream, and Francis Krone from the Saxon Boutique Hotel are the Gauteng-based Semi-Finalists.\u00a0 To get to the Semi-Finalist stage, the candidates had to write an ‘open book test’.\u00a0 In the Semi-Finals, wine styles and tasting will be tested blind, as will be their ability to make food and wine pairing recommendations, and their professionalism in wine service.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The competition is endorsed by the\u00a0recently formed South African Sommelier Association,\u00a0of which Neil Grant at Rust\u00a0en Vrede is the Chairman.\u00a0 Members of the Association will assist in the judging.\u00a0 The competition is organised by Michael Fridjhon, importing Riedel glassware, and Vinimark The Wine Company, importers of Champagne Bollinger.\u00a0The winner of the competition will be announced on 11 November, and will win a trip to France to visit the House of Champagne Bollinger.<\/p>\n

Entry criteria included a minimum three year experience in the hospitality industry, employment in\u00a0food or wine\u00a0service in South Africa, and entrants to be\u00a021 years or older.\u00a0 They were also expected to\u00a0have a knowledge of wine styles and terminology, wine label information, wine regulations, regions of origin, international wine regions, identify wines in a blind tasting, service, food and wine pairing, wine storage, and an ability to interact with customers.\u00a0 “The Bollinger Exceptional\u00a0Wine Service Award has been established to bring focus and recognition of achievement to the growing group of professional wine waiters in South Africa”<\/em>, states the media release.<\/p>\n

We wish the Semi-Finalists good luck in the next stage of the Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0 Twitter:@WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six of the ten Semi-Finalists for the Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award come from Cape Town and the Winelands, and go through to the Semi-Finals, which take place in Cape Town and Johannesburg next month. The Semi-Finalists come from top hotels and restaurants.\u00a0 In the Cape they are Gregory Mutambe from the Twelve Apostles Hotel, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,20,248,21,19,293],"tags":[12427,32366,9142,12441,32378,12429,12432,12437,144,12428,887,27,12442,12430,99,9358,12436,39,549,11645,12433,1326,2880,13,6208,34,12438,12435,12434,12439,11633,607,109,12440,12431,32387,32373,32382],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t