There are many wine related festivals and award ceremonies that take place throughout the year in Cape Town and the surrounds. Furthering the hotel's ambition to play a central role in South African Wine; Taj Cape Town has opened its banqueting venues to host two of the major wines events each year. "The hotel has recently opened the Reserve at Taj Cape Town and I believe it is the perfect space to showcase the variety and exceptional quality of South African wines to the domestic and international audience," added Pownall.
The Taj Classic Wine Trophy Awards has been one of the highlights on the wine calendar for the past 16 years. A prestigious panel of French wine experts gather every March to taste the best wines that South Africa has to offer. Conducted via a blind tasting, the judges seek to reward any South African wines that would rightfully earn its place in the top cellars or wine lists around the world due to its elegance, balance and finesse.
The popular Big Bottle Wine Festival will take place at Taj Cape Town from 29-31 August for the first time this year. A cast of South Africa's top winemakers and chefs assemble for this three-day event, where guests have the rare opportunity to speak to the wine producer while sampling canapés that have been created to accompany each specific wine.
Taj Cape Town is also delighted to be a part of one of the most exciting industry events in South Africa, the Cape Legends Inter Hotel Challenge. The Taj has partnered Lomond Wines, situated in Cape Agulhas, and will present with them at the final presentation taking place in July.
The Pendock Wine Gallery is another of Taj Cape Town's innovative ideas to showcase the culture and craft of the local wine industry. Renowned wine scribe Neil Pendock has invited leading winemakers from South Africa and abroad to curate an exhibition each month that highlight a particular style of wine, a wine region, or wines from a specific winemaker. The cost of R30 per person is refundable on purchase and includes tasting a flight of six wines.
The RECM Best Value Guide held every Wednesday in the Pendock Wine Gallery is chaired by Dr Winnie Bowman. Between 50 and 100 wines are judged blind by a panel of wine judges and the scores and tasting notes from each judge is tallied and uploaded to the international wine app, Vivino.com. Afterwards from 5pm to 7pm, hotel guests and members of the public are invited to sample all the wines that were judged earlier in the day.
