It’s thirsty work, but someone has to do it. The judges for this year’s Platter’s Guide tasted hundreds of wines for inclusion in the annual wine guide, which has become a trusty guideline for lovers of South African wine.

It’s a rigorous process, starting with the first round of tasting (sighted) at the tasters’ homes — an enviable task, for sure, but it’s easier said than done.

Philip van Zyl, Platter’s Guide editor, tells me that wines that score 93 points or more are then entered into a blind round, where only the cultivar, varietal or blend and the vintage are made known to the taster.

“As Platter’s is primarily a wine guide and not a wine competition, our expert tasters initially assess the wines sighted to have access to vital contextual details such as site, climate and style.

“Since Platter’s not only rates wines, but also provides editorial content, this information enables our team to understand (and editorialise) the intent of the producer and the wine’s back story.”

Those back-stories are vital to the consumer’s appreciation of the wine and the brand — offering guidance on what to do, where to visit, why and, most importantly, what to buy.

This year’s tasting panel consists of some of South Africa’s most celebrated Cape Wine Masters, wine educators and writers, including  Winnie Bowman, Greg de Bruyn, Tim James, Nomonde Kubheka, Malu Lambert, Angela Lloyd, Cathy Marston, Fiona McDonald, Christine Rudman, Penny Setti, Dave Swingler, Cathy van Zyl and Meryl Weaver. Sommeliers Ndaba Dube and Keize Mumba are associated tasters.

The 2023 guide features more than 900 producers, merchants and brands — plus 31 new ones — and over 8,000 wines, brandies, fortified wines and husk spirits.

Descriptions and ratings offer guidance on wine selection, good-value indicators across all quality levels, plus suggestions for activities and attractions in the Winelands.

Platter’s is uncommon in the world of wine guides in that it has sought to taste and rate every wine from every South African vintage since its founding in 1980.

It starts with sighted label assessment, and ends with a blind tasting.

Once the wine passes the 93-points or more rating, it enters into a second round, where the taster assesses the wines within a category, without sight of the label, to verify the sighted tasting score. If that category (for example, cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay) has a large number of wines rated 93 points or more, it will be divided into flights, which are each tasted on a different day but by the same single taster.

If this blind verification taster disagrees with the sighted taster about a wine’s score, the change in score is referred back to the blind taster for ratification.

Wines that rated above 95 points are awarded five stars and classed as Wines of the Year.

If two or more wines are tied at a five-star highest score, the wine that is noted to be the “favourite” by the blind verification taster (and/or the second-opinion taster) is chosen to be the “category best”.

Wines which don’t quite make the 95-point rating, which are deemed to be extremely fine and collectable in their own right, are listed as Highly Recommended.

The Top Performing Winery of the Year is awarded to the winery that achieves the most five-star results after the annual final tasting round.

Newcomer Winery of the Year is awarded to a producer who debuted in Platter’s in the year under review and achieved the highest ratings at the Five Star tasting, or the highest scores.

The Editor’s Award Winery of the Year is for the winegrowing team (or teams) who are deemed to be ambassadors for South African wine.

In the latest edition 226 wines, brandies and husk spirits receive five stars, which is Platter’s equivalent to 95 or more on the 100-point international scale.

Of the 5-star-awarded wines, there are 31 Wines of the Year, 424 Highly Recommended wines; 192 reds and whites showing particular potential for cellaring; 104 Hidden Gems, wines which are deemed to be worthy, interesting, attractive, unique or representative of an important trend; and 53 Superquaffers — exceptionally drinkable and well-priced wines (which many of us are likely to see when out to find the bargains).

Sadie Family Wines is the Top Performing Winery of the Year and the Editor’s Award Winery of the Year goes to Bosman Family Vineyards, for their outstanding contributions to the craft of winemaking, social empowerment, environmental care and development of the industry.

The Newcomer Winery of the Year is awarded to Edouard Labeye, a pioneering winemaker who comes from Rhône wine valley in France and is a co-owner of Radford Dale in Stellenbosch, for a stunning 94-point Grenache Blanc.

Platter’s 2024 hardcover is available from selected bookstores and retailers nationwide from early December 2023. The recommended retail price is R411 incl VAT. DM