International connoisseurs and South African wine lovers alike took great pleasure in the ultimate wining and dining experience at The Parmigiani White Club events held at The Saxon, Delaire Graaff and The TAJ Hotel, in South Africa last week.
The scene was set for the exclusive ‘World of First Growths’ tastings, held by the International Private Members Club (TWC), which annually conducts tastings all over the world. The three events were the first in the global travelling series, returning to South African soil after 6 local wines were selected to join the exclusive tastings.
The internationally acclaimed Non-Profit Private Members Club, TWC, presented 32 of the 42 World of First Growth wines ranging from the vintages dating from 1923 up to 2010.
The tasters confirmed that the six South African wines, MR de Compostella, Vergelegen V, Villafonté Series M 2009, Waterford Estate The Jem, Incognito wine Epicurean 2006 and Columella 2009, belong among the words best wines together with the legendary Vin de Constance from Klein Constantia that once again blew the Chateau d’ Yquem away.
As the wine world is ever-evolving, today the term ‘First Growth’ has come to mean not only Bordeaux wines, but indeed ‘wines of the most exceptional quality’ and the tastings once again proved that the South African wines truly belong in this rank.
“It comes as no surprise that South African wines are ranked among these illustrious ‘First Growth’ wines and I think that we, once again, convinced a very sceptical audience that they belonged. We promise to those attending that the evenings will be an an unforgettable, unique experience, and I am sure that everyone understood this” states CEO of the exclusive International Wine Club, Malene Meisner.
Local industry specialists concluded that it was very insightful to see the South African wines presented in this type of context. Columella and MR de Compostella held their own, while the others have certainly been catching up to the best of the best over the last two years.
“Wine lovers must recognise that wines from South Africa rank among the best in the world and the guests were very pleasantly surprised to discover this. There is still work to be done but a few of them are certainly already among the best 30 wines in the world,” Meisner concludes.
The Parmigiani White Club will travel to Dehli, Mumbai, Zurich, London, Madrid, New York and Burgundy, where the six SA wines will continue to be introduced to wine tasters and wine lovers from all over the world.
For further information on The White Club and the tastings visit: www.thewhiteclub.com
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