Winner of inaugural Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award

(L-R): Finals Judge Kent Scheermeyer, Joakim Hansi Blackadder and runner-up Wayve Kolevsohn.

Candidates went through a testing day of written exams, blind tastings and a practical assessment, where finalists had to skilfully decant an aged wine and select and present wines to 'guests', pairing them with items on a menu the finalists were seeing for the first time.

Ginette de Fleuriot, Cape Wine Master, organiser of the awards and one of the judges, is pleased with the overall results, "Although unforeseen circumstances meant that two finalists (Josephine Gutentoft and Francis Krone) had to withdraw, we were pleased that Mutambe, as fifth-placed semi-finalist, could then compete and on his home-turf.

"Most importantly, the high standards attained by Blackadder and the other finalists have set the benchmark for aspirant sommeliers. We look forward to an increased number of entrants for the awards in 2012 and wider representation from South Africa's premier tourist regions. We trust that this award will act as a catalyst for the hospitality industry to expand training facilities and support local sommeliers."

Blackadder's prize for winning is a trip to the House of Bollinger Champagne in France, including airfare and accommodation in France.

High credentials

Blackadder, 27, whose father is Scottish and mother is Swedish, grew up in the small town of Västerås near Stockholm in Sweden. His training included three years at a restaurant college and two years at a sommelier academy in Stockholm. His wide restaurant training in Sweden includes a stint at Michelin-star Restaurant Mathias Dahlgren, which won the Bocuse d'Or (World Cooking Contest) whilst he was employed there. It was also rated the best new restaurant in the world by The Wallpaper magazine.

After a brief stint as sommelier at the Grande Roche Hotel in Paarl in 2008, Joakim then returned permanently to South Africa the following year and was appointed sommelier and senior manager at The Roundhouse Restaurant in Camps Bay. Earlier this year he was promoted to GM, retaining his sommelier duties.

Improving standards

The award has been established to bring focus and recognition of achievement to the growing group of professional wine waiters in South Africa.

The recently formed South African Sommelier Association (SASA) is fully behind the awards and some of its members were judges at the final. SASA Chairman Neil Grant says, "It is an honour for the association to be part of the judging panel for awards. Wine service has a poor history in South Africa and, only with incentives such as these, will we find an improvement within the industry.

"Over the past 10 years, South African chefs have proven how good they are and now wine stewards/sommeliers need to be part of this movement, so we can challenge the international markets. I would like to thank all the sponsors for the hard work and dedication in making this event a success and I look forward to being part of the Award again next year."

The inaugural award is co-sponsored by Riedel Glassware, which provided infrastructural support, together with Vinimark The Wine Company, importers of Bollinger. Comair sponsored flights.