2008 Landbouweekblad Woman Winemaker of the Year Awards

Entrants submit wines to be blind tasted by the judging panel. The top scoring wines are selected and then the six women winemaker finalists are interviewed. The interview process aims to select a winner based on more than just the wine. Personality, confidence, wine making philosophy, goals and views on the wine industry are all criteria on which the finalists are assessed.

A winning intiative

The woman behind it all is Lorraine Immelman-Steyn, who had the vision and guts to start the competition over five years ago, and the tenacity to keep it going with the support of the major sponsor Landbouweekblad.

Head of the 2008 judging panel, Marilyn Cooper, head of the Cape Wine Academy, said in her speech that “competitions sell wine”. She also praised the competition for inspiring young women to aspire to becoming winemakers and for encouraging participants to go from strength to strength. Marilyn remarked on the exciting line up of wines that were judged and revealed that red wine and in particular Shiraz stood out in the entries, indicating a shift and focus in the industry on red varietals.

The 2008 finalists:

• Danelle van Rensburg from Van Loveren Vineyards in Robertson with her 2007 Wolverine Creek Shiraz.
  
• Erika Obermeyer from Graham Beck Wines in Franschhoek for The Joshua 2006, a blend of 95% Shiraz and 5% Viognier. This is her third year as a finalist in the competition.
  
• Mari van der Merwe from Diemersdal Estate in Durbanville for her 2007 Chardonnay Reserve.
  
• Corlea Fourie from Bosman Family Vineyards in Wellington for her Optenhorst 2007 bush vine Chenin Blanc.
  
• Rianie Strydom from Haskell Vineyards in Stellenbosch with her 2006 Boulder Road Shiraz.
  
• Jocelyn Wilson from La Bri in Franschhoek for her 2007 Shiraz and Viognier blend.

The entrants' good wine flowed after dinner as the crowd laughed, sang and clapped along to the excellent Afrikaans Elvis Presley antics of the comedian entertainer, Emo Adams.

A recap

2007 winner Susan Wessels then graced the podium with poise and confidence and regaled the audience with daydream tales of her trip to Bordeaux, the competition's main prize. She said that she was inspired by the passion and love for wine in France. Susan encouraged women winemakers to enter the competition saying that it has been great exposure for herself and her cellar.

Overall winner

At the culmination of the festivities, Erika Obermeyer was announced as the 2008 Landbouweekblad Woman Winemaker of the Year. An overwhelmed and somewhat relieved Obermeyer took the podium and said that she considered all the finalists as winners. She thanked the people of Graham Beck for their support and in particular she thanked her cellar staff who were standing and rejoicing her victory. Third time lucky, she said that it is a long awaited dream come true and that this is proof that “If you can dream it, you can do it.”