I was delighted to hear that HEINEKEN Beverages will continue to be the main sponsor for the Inter Hotel Challenge, now in its 11th year. Started by Showcook.com, it is a wonderful programme which provides training and mentorship for candidate chefs and wine stewards from hotels across the country. This year there are 23 participating wine stewards. All the wine candidates got to come to the winelands to spend two days at the Grape to Glass Experience, where they were exposed to wine, wine and spirits service training (by Jean Vincent Ridon from the Sommeliers Academy), and water sommelierie (by water sommelier Nico Pieterse), among others. I attended one of the days at Nederburg last week and the candidates were super excited and keen to learn more. Looking forward to seeing who the winners will be, when they are announced at the glittering awards ceremony gala dinner on 28 November! To read more about the competition, click HERE.