It is not every day that one is asked to judge at a braaibroodjie competition and I must say it was much fun. The inaugural competition was held on Friday 17 May on the lawns in front of the Manor House at Nederburg in Paarl, arranged by the relatively newly reconstituted Paarl Wine Route, now being driven by Annelize Stroebel. And if 'gees', vibe, networking, building community and having fun was the intention, then it really hit the mark! Participating wineries were Brookdale Estate, Fairview, KWV, Nederburg, Perdeberg Wines, Rhebokskloof, Ridgeback Wines and Simonsvlei. And the competition was fierce and friendly!The breads were varied and inspiring, from brioche to standard square breads to branded Simonsvlei toastie to malva-based to spicy secret sauces and pestos. Everyone went to a lot of trouble to make their braaibroodjie stand out and much fun was had dancing to the PaarlFM music, which really gave the day a great vibe. The judging was based on 4 criteria: Presentation, Creativity, Taste and Wine & Food Pairing. It was tough to judge and also to down so much bread in one go! I had my fill of gluten for the year! And of course there had to be winners, and they were: Ridgeback Wines Rhebokskloof Brookdale And the KWV team got the 'Gees' prize of the day with Nederburg hailed for hosting such a successful event, which I am sure already has a spot in the 2025 calendar.