{"id":63019,"date":"2014-10-28T00:07:48","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T22:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=63019"},"modified":"2014-11-01T10:03:43","modified_gmt":"2014-11-01T08:03:43","slug":"platters-by-diners-club-2015-south-africa-wine-guide-launched-with-a-number-of-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/platters-by-diners-club-2015-south-africa-wine-guide-launched-with-a-number-of-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Platter’s by Diners Club 2015 South Africa Wine Guide’ launched with a number of changes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PLATTERS<\/a>The 2015 Platter’s Wine Guide was launched at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel last night, in a Beaujolais Ferment colour, with a number of changes in terms of its methodology to evaluate the 5 star wines, \u00a0as well as in the content of the Wine Guide. Out of 6000 wines submitted for evaluation, a total of 50 wines and one brandy received the highly desired 5 star rating. The Platter’s Winery of the Year is Sadie Family Wines, the second time that Eben Sadie has received this accolade. \u00a0 DeMorgenzon Reserve Chardonnay 2013 was named the White Wine of the Year, \"Platter's<\/a>and De Trafford Blueprint Syrah 2012 was named the Red Wine of the Year.<\/p>\n

The first Platter’s change is that JP Rossouw has been the new publisher for the past year, looking confident last night, relative to his first more restrained presentation a year ago. \u00a0It was nice to see former publisher Andrew McDowell present and look as charming as ever.<\/p>\n

\"Platter's<\/a>The second Platter’s change was the launch venue, having been The Vineyard hotel for many years, but always at the cost of limited parking and is a cramped venue. \u00a0The Belmond Mount Nelson Ball Room seemed massive by comparison, and we were welcomed with a glass of Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2009, and canap\u00e9s, which kept coming out of the kitchen, and included dim sum, chicken curry, hot dogs, prawn tempura, and battered calamari.<\/p>\n

While we were waiting for the proceedings to start, I met a Stellenbosch University lecturer Richard John Barnett, who had entered the Platter’s competition to correctly guess the colour of the 2015 Platter’s cover, for which he won an invitation to attend the launch, and a bottle each of the Red Wine and the White Wine of the Year. \u00a0He could not be persuaded to divulge the winning colour, until we were shown it by JP. \u00a0The cover colour is an annual change, but a closely guarded secret. The cover highlights further changes, the name of the publication having been changed to ‘Platter’s by Diners Club 2015 South African Wine Guide’, <\/em>from ‘Platter’s South African Wines’ <\/em>in the past. \u00a0The typeface has changed, and the emphasis now falls on the Platter’s branding (and surprisingly low key Diners Club branding), and on ‘Wine Guide<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

Given further changes, it is a surprise that the 2014 and 2015 Platter’s have exactly the same number of pages, just short of 650. Content changes include the exclusion of all Restaurant and Accommodation \u00a0listings, which had formed part of Platter’s for a long part of its history. Now these listings have been moved to the Platter’s website. \u00a0The typeface used inside the Guide is more legible. Another content change is that all descriptions of listings for wines achieving 3 stars or less can be found on the Platter’s website too. \u00a0 A new Platter’s iOs app is to be launched in December. \u00a0 The presentation style changed as well, the photography of each award winner having been moved to the end of the proceedings, making for a much sharper shorter event.<\/p>\n

JP explained the 5 star evaluation, which had been criticised last year for 81 entries receiving the accolade. The drop to 51 is dramatic, and was achieved by a more stringent judging process, the 200 potential five star wines suggested by the judges \"Platter's<\/a>being evaluated blind in groups of three judges, judging 35 wines in a particular category. \u00a0 Two roving chairpersons, Cathy van Zyl and Michael Fridjhon, assisted with the judging, ensuring that the final 51 wines selected as 5 stars were truly exceptional. \u00a0JP and I chatted about the wine producers who did not enter this year, including KWV and Ultraliquors. JP is working on KWV, and is confident that he can encourage them to enter in future again, particularly given their excellent awards performance this year to date. \u00a0Previous judges Christian Eedes and Michael Fridjhon withdrew from Platter’s as judges this year due to work pressure, but did participate in the blind judging of the 5 star wines.<\/p>\n

In the Platter’s introduction wine-related trends are identified, which include an increasing number of high-end, small-volume, and niche wines; own-label bottlings coming from larger cellars; exciting new wines being made from vines 35 years and older; \u00a0greater emphasis on ‘keep it simple<\/em>‘ winemaking; \u00a0‘Chenin Blanc continues its strong comeback<\/em>‘; greater focus on sustainable and ethical practices, and transformation programs; food and wine pairings in restaurants and in tasting rooms are on the rise; and Social Media in many instances is the medium used to launch new wines and new vintages. \"Platter's<\/a><\/p>\n

Platter’s salutes Sadie Family Wines, which achieved the accolade in 2010 as well, as ‘prominent role players in the influential Swartland Independent \u00a0Producers organisation’<\/em>… and ‘as producers of consistently superlative wines<\/em>‘. \u00a0 They achieved three 5 star wines in this Platter’s. Owner Eben Sadie used the Olympics as an example, and asked wine drinkers to try 4\u00bd star wines too, as they often are hidden in the shadow of the 5 star wines. \u00a0The DeMorgenzon Reserve Chardonnay 2013 is the White Wine of the Year, and was created by \"Platter's<\/a>Cellarmaster Carl van der Merwe\u00a0adding the 2013 Chardonnay to its prestige Reserve range. \u00a0The Red Wine of the Year is De Trafford Blueprint Syrah 2012, and was made by David Trafford using natural winemaking, being spontaneously fermented, and aged in older barrels.<\/p>\n

In announcing the 51 Platter’s 5 star wines last night, there were nine new 5 star wines: Creation Wines, Crystallum, Diners Club Bartho Eksteen Academy, Fram, Iona, Oldenburg, Porseleinberg, Stellenbosch Vineyards (for their Flagship), and Sumaridge. Most exciting for the Hermanus Wine Route is that all four Pinot Noir 5 star wines come from this wine \"Platter's<\/a>route. It is nice to see that the good work being done by Creation Wines in making the wine route more visible has been rewarded with a 5 star rating for its Reserve Pinot Noir 2013. \u00a0The 51 Platter’s 5 star wines are the following:<\/p>\n

Cabernet Franc<\/span><\/p>\n

Warwick Estate Cabernet Franc 2011<\/p>\n

Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span><\/p>\n

Groot Constantia Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012<\/p>\n

Le Riche Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2011<\/p>\n

Nederburg Wines II Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon 2010<\/p>\n

Oldenburg Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2011<\/p>\n

Stark-Cond\u00e9 Wines Three Pines Cabernet Sauvignon 2012<\/p>\n

Cinsaut<\/span><\/p>\n

Sadie Family Wines Pofadder 2013<\/p>\n

Petit Verdot<\/span><\/p>\n

Stellenbosch Vineyards Flagship Petit Verdot 2010<\/p>\n

Pinotage<\/span><\/p>\n

Flagstone Winery Time Manner Place Pinotage 2012<\/p>\n

Kanonkop Estate Black Label Pinotage 2012<\/p>\n

Pinot Noir<\/span><\/p>\n

Creation Wines Reserve Pinot Noir 2013<\/p>\n

Crystallum Cuv\u00e9e Cin\u00e9ma Pinot Noir 2013<\/p>\n

Newton Johnson Vineyards Family Vineyards Pinot Noir 2013<\/p>\n

Sumaridge Wines Pinot Noir 2012<\/p>\n

Shiraz\/Syrah<\/span><\/p>\n

Boekenhoutskloof Winery Syrah 2012<\/p>\n

Boschendal Wines Cecil John Reserve Shiraz 2012<\/p>\n

De Trafford Wines Blueprint Syrah 2012<\/p>\n

Fable Mountain Vineyards Syrah 2012<\/p>\n

Porseleinberg Porseleinberg 2012<\/p>\n

Red Blends<\/span><\/p>\n

Delaire Graff Estate Botmaskop 2012<\/p>\n

Ernie Els Wines CWG Auction Reserve 2012<\/p>\n

Hartenberg Estate The Mackenzie 2011<\/p>\n

Thelema Mountain Vineyards Rabelais 2010<\/p>\n

Vilafont\u00e9 Series C 2011<\/p>\n

Chardonnay<\/span><\/p>\n

DeMorgenzon Reserve Chardonnay 2013<\/p>\n

Iona Vineyards Chardonnay 2013<\/p>\n

Richard Kershaw Wines Elgin Chardonnay 2013<\/p>\n

Sterhuis Barrel Selection Chardonnay 2012<\/p>\n

Chenin Blanc<\/span><\/p>\n

Alheit Vineyards Magnetic North Mountain Makstok 2013<\/p>\n

Fram Wines Chenin Blanc 2013<\/p>\n

Kaapzicht Wine Estate The 1947 Chenin Blanc 2013<\/p>\n

Grenache Blanc<\/span><\/p>\n

The Foundry Grenache Blanc 2013<\/p>\n

Sauvignon Blanc<\/span><\/p>\n

Buitenverwachting Husseys Vlei Sauvignon Blanc 2013<\/p>\n

Diners Club Bartho Eksteen Wine Academy CWG Auction Reserve Vloekskoot Sauvignon Blanc 2013<\/p>\n

Reyneke Wines Reserve White 2013<\/p>\n

Semillon<\/span><\/p>\n

Vergelegen Wines Reserve Semillon 2013<\/p>\n

White Blends<\/span><\/p>\n

Constantia Uitsig Constantia White 2013<\/p>\n

David & Nadia Sadie Aristargos 2013<\/p>\n

DeMorgenzon Maestro White 2013<\/p>\n

Flagstone Winery Treaty Tree Reserve White Blend 2013<\/p>\n

Miles Mossop Wines Saskia 2012<\/p>\n

Oak Valley Wines Mountain Reserve White Blend 2010<\/p>\n

Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2012 Sadie Family Wines Skerpioen 2013<\/p>\n

M\u00e9thode Cap Classique<\/span><\/p>\n

Graham Beck Wines Blanc de Blancs Brut 2009<\/p>\n

Dessert Wine, Unfortified<\/span><\/p>\n

Delheim Wines Edelspatz Noble Late Harvest 2013<\/p>\n

Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines Straw Wine 2013<\/p>\n

Dessert Wine, Fortified<\/span><\/p>\n

Nuy Wine Cellar White Muscadel 2013<\/p>\n

Port-Style<\/span><\/p>\n

Boplaas Family Vineyards Cape Tawny Vintners Reserve NV<\/p>\n

De Krans Cape Vintage Reserve 2012<\/p>\n

Brandy<\/span><\/p>\n

KWV 12 Year Old Barrel Select Brandy<\/p>\n

Diners Club Head of Marketing Lee-anne Shepherd introduced the Diners Club’s link to Platter’s, and described new publisher JP\"Diners<\/a> as being ‘interesting to work with<\/em>‘. She praised his attention to detail, his tenacity, his integrity, and striving to do what is right, therefore making him the perfect publisher. \u00a0JP said that 6000 wines were evaluated in total. \u00a0Diners Club has food and wine in its DNA, he said. \u00a0Today Diners Club announced the Finalists for the 2014 Wine Maker of the Year.<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Platter’s by Diners Club 2015 South African Wine Guide<\/strong>. \u00a0Tel (028) 316-3049. www.wineonaplatter.com<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u00a0Twitter: @Wineonaplatter \u00a0R 195. Available from Platter’s and from leading bookstores.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Tel (021) 433-2100, Twitter:@WhaleCottage Facebook: \u00a0<\/strong>click here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2015 Platter’s Wine Guide was launched at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel last night, in a Beaujolais Ferment colour, with a number of changes in terms of its methodology to evaluate the 5 star wines, \u00a0as well as in the content of the Wine Guide. Out of 6000 wines submitted for evaluation, a total […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,1918,31,22,21,19,293],"tags":[28477,28488,28468,2746,22213,8647,28469,26037,389,416,182,402,13971,420,32378,13969,225,28479,24700,28484,12483,417,28473,22212,2489,28471,28480,8917,28483,22815,7104,28481,19507,1393,410,2503,4994,25112,28475,405,391,884,8653,28487,11645,28485,28486,28482,2510,8894,2676,11576,905,17172,28474,21569,28476,22206,28470,1921,32395,13673,25656,400,2509,2747,7773,13965,403,28478,374,407,3598,32373,28472],"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