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Judging the Fine Wine Awards
Malu Lambert
Chairperson and Convener of Judges
Award-winning wine writer Malu Lambert won the title of the Mont Blanc Emerging Wine Writer of the Year at the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards 2019. She also won the Veritas Young Wine Writer in 2015. Most recently she co-authored Klein Constantia: The Home of Vin de Constance, which was the winner of the ‘Discovering and Presenting Wines’ category of the 2023 OIV - International Organisation of Vine and Wine Awards.
Malu writes for numerous South African titles, and was the wine editor of Food & Home for five years. Internationally, she has also written for Jancis Robinson, Decanter, The Buyer, Falstaff, Club Oenologique, Drinks International, Thirteen Barrels, The Japanese Times, and more.
She is also a taster on the Platter's Guide. Malu is a regular on South Africa's judging panels, including the venerated Wine-of-the-Month Club. She judges internationally too, most recently for the Decanter World Wine Awards and Concours Mondial du Sauvignon.
Panel Members: Wayve Kolevsohn, Tarryn Vincent, Lauren Segers, Cathy van Zyl MW, Janine van Zyl, Jono le Feuvre, Maryna Calow, Irina Botha, Clive Torr, Claude Felbert, Christine Rudman, Colin Collard, Penelope Setti, Cathy Marston, Samarie Smith, Rene Groenewald CWM, Joseph Dhafana, Heidi Duminy and Catherine Marshall.
Judging Process
All wines will be blind tasted by an independent panel of judges, as selected by the Convener of Judges, Malu Lambert.
The international 100-point system is used.
Medals/Stickers will be awarded as follows:
Trophy Award: Top-scoring wine in class
Gold: 95+ points
Silver: 90 to 94.99 points
Bronze: 85 to 89.99 points
Wines will be judged in accordance with the variety or type (class) to which it belongs and in which it has been entered.
The international 100-point system is used.
All wines will be tasted blind. The judging process is audited by independent auditors, Moore South Africa.
Below are the categories that will be tasted:
Bordeaux Red Blends
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cap Classique
Chardonnay
Chenin Blanc
Champagne
Dry White Blends
Merlot
Non-Bordeaux Red Blends
Pinotage
Rose
Sauvignon Blanc
Shiraz
Sweet / Semi Sweet / Off Dry
Unusual Red Varietals
Unusual White Varietals
Port
All wines will be tasted blind. The judging process is audited by independent auditors, Moore South Africa.