This week marks a major milestone of wine and brandy judging in South Africa as the finest palates of international and local judges set to work in evaluating this year’s entries for the Veritas Awards – the country’s oldest and most authoritative showdown for market-ready products of the vine since its inception in 1991. Overseas judges sponsored The standard use of accomplished overseas judges by Veritas has been made possible thanks to a partnership with Dry Ice International, which has agreed to bring these experts to South Africa. Dry Ice International, led by CEO Deon Roux, is the largest supplier and manufacturer of dry ice in South Africa. “Transforming cool grapes into fine wines is our motto, and that makes usa proud sponsor of Veritas 2024,” he says, emphasising the crucial importance of reliability and speedy deliveries of dry ice for the wine industry, particularly during the harvesting season. With almost 30 years of experience in manufacturing and distributing dry ice across South Africa and neighbouring countries, the company boasts multiple manufacturing plants and an extensive in-house delivery network. Their recent expansion into the Western Cape aims to support local wine farmers by ensuring 24/7 availability of dry ice and robust infrastructure to withstand power and water shortages, backed by generators, CO2 storage tanks, and reliable transport to ensure wine farmers receive dry ice when required. The chairperson of Veritas, Christo Pienaar, says, “It is a pleasure to welcome our international judges to the Veritas Awards judging to share their expertise and knowledge with us. Their contribution to the strict judging process is very important to further support our acclaim to the high standard of judging that Veritas stands for.” The international judges are Michael Franz, PhD, a US wine writer, editor, educator, restaurant consultant and competition judge; Ulrich Hoffmann, winemaker, international wine consultant and wine judge as a panel chair at the International Wine Challenge, the IWSC and the Berlin Wine Trophy; Joe Wadsack, British wine buyer and TV presenter; and Jo Wessels, a well-awarded South African sommelier based in Germany. Altogether 18 experienced judging panels are gathered in the Johann Graue Hall at Nederburg in Paarl to identify the best entries for the sought-after Veritas medals and name the Duimpie Bayly Vertex Award winner as the top wine overall – named as such in 2021 in honour of the late Mr Bayly, an undisputed legend of the industry. The wines and brandies are being tasted over five days until Friday 13 September. The seven most keenly contested categories in terms of entries received are: Red Blends (173), Sauvignon Blanc (134), Cabernet Sauvignon (111), Chardonnay (105), Chenin Blanc (101), Shiraz (92) and Pinotage (77). Local judges The local judging team comprises winemakers, researchers, academics, wine buyers, wine writers, consultants and Cape Wine Masters. The latter group continues to play a significant role as independent judges, with no less than 16 CWMs in action over the five days