Gauteng's Wine List winners

The award for the best wine list countrywide went jointly to Zachary's Restaurant at the Pezula Hotel & Spa in Knysna and Bosman's Restaurant at the Grande Roche in Paarl. They were followed by The Turbine Hotel & Spa in Knysna with Best Platinum and Collisheen Estate near Uhlali in KwaZulu-Natal, which took Best Silver. Glenroy du Plessis from Bosman's Restaurant received the award as Best Wine Steward.

Top performers received Diamond certification, followed by Platinum, Gold and Silver.

Providing a proper balance

Commenting on the standard of the competition Dave Hughes, chairman of the judging panel, said that many of the wine lists that entered this year offered a wider choice in terms of price, with entry-level and mid-level wines providing a proper balance for the award-winning ones at the top.

"These are establishments who understand that, in the present economic climate, offering value is key and has as much influence on the dining experience as the food itself.

"Another heartening sign was that restaurants seem to be increasingly offering wine by the glass. In my experience people don't readily order a bottle of wine they don't know. Wine by the glass gives them the freedom to experiment without having to commit themselves to a considerable expense."

Care in assembling wines

Hughes also praised the closer correlation developing between menu and wine list. "Wine, after all, is there to complement the food, but for years wine lists and menus were treated as unrelated offerings. Now more and more restaurateurs take a lot of care in assembling a range of wines they believe complement their food and then guide the patron by means of the wine list in making an appropriate choice."

Diners Club Western Cape regional manager Jane Ledger said they were delighted by the sizeable increase in the number of entries.

"For nearly 20 years we have striven to recognise those establishments offering the best dining experience for our card holders and, this year, the increased number of entries bears testimony to the value these awards hold for the hospitality industry. We would like to thank all the restaurants for entering and their continued efforts in raising the standards and variety of wines on offer across South Africa."

The judging panel

In addition to Hughes, the judging panel for this year's awards consisted of JP Rossouw, editor of Rossouw's Restaurants Guide and wine commentator; former editor of WINE magazine and wine judge, Fiona MacDonald; garagiste winemaker and wine educator, Clive Torr; and wine critic and former principal of the Cape Wine Academy, Christine Rudman.

At the request of the chairman of the panel, Gawie Marx, GM of the Grande Roche, was co-opted as an advisor.

The complete list of the 2010 Diners Club Wine List Awards is available from the Diners Club website (www.dinersclub.co.za).