Inaugural awards for the best 'Sommeliers' Selection'

The panel comprises Higgo Jacobs, Neil Grant, David Clarke, Jörg Pfützner and Joachim Blackadder, who are members of the South African Sommeliers Association (SASA) and highly qualified and internationally recognised sommeliers.

Categories to be judged will be the same as those on a great wine list with the introduction of a craft beer category. The results will be published in the format of an ideal wine list for a good restaurant. This will allow the competition award to form the basis for new wine lists in restaurants around the country. The results will be marketed to all restaurants with an invitation to use it if they wish, as well as to the wine buying public and wine industry.

The award aims to educate the public and guide them into buying exciting, different and new wines and beers. The winning wines will be recognisable in a wine shop with fun and funky stickers, customised to suit the winning wines, as well as quirky posters set to intrigue and entice the public to try the wine. These posters will be displayed in wine shops throughout the country.

Entries open on 1 March 2015, with the judging taking place from 4-6 June 2015. The awards ceremony will take place on 19 June 2015. The competition is organised by DnA Event Management, together with the South African Sommeliers Association, Spiegelau and the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa.

For more information, go to www.thesommeliersselection.co.za.