THE LAUNCH of Platter’s 41st South African Wine Guide has not gone smoothly, to say the least. In advance of the hardcopy version reaching the book stores, the publishers chose to announce the recipients of their awards bit by bit in a fashion that was frustrating, if not irritating, and somewhat confusing – even for some of those on the team.

First one of Platter’s tasters/contributors let slip the name of Stellenbosch producer Kleine Zalze as Top Performing Winery of the Year, i.e. some 12 hours prematurely, and she continued to broadcast the identitities of the 5 Star laureates after Platter’s boss told everybody else they should pay for an online subscription to get the info. Click here for the initial slip-up, and for the 5 Star line-up, see here.

Then came a salvo from senior wine writer and industry critic Michael Fridjhon, writing for Winemag, knocking Platter’s rating system and the climbing number of 5 Star ratings. For the opinion piece and the comment it’s elicited, click here.

We’ve since been told that the book will go on sale around mid-December 2020… that the Editor’s Award has gone to Donovan Rall for his superb track record and winemaking approach in various areas of the Cape winelands… and that the award for Newcomer of the Year has gone to Pilgrim Wines, producers of the first certified Bastardo do Castello/Trousseau ever bottled in South Africa.

The names of Platter’s Wines of the Year, the best in each category, are also being revealed by way of instalments – bit by bit. Hmph!