The Franschhoek Wine Valley and the Franschhoek Literary Festival are delighted to announce the winners of the two categories for the 2015 FLF SA Wine Writers’ Awards.

The short-form category prize was awarded to Angela Lloyd, whose ‘evocative writing and eloquent phrasing, written by a passionate wine lover, is evident throughout the body of work that was presented’.

Joanne Gibson walked away with the award for the long-form category for her piece, “An Excellent Cordial”. The judges described it as ‘A perfect piece of completely dedicated historical research that reads like a summary for a gripping wine novel’.

A panel of independent judges, comprised of two local wine experts – radio broadcaster John Maytham and chef/cookbook writer/wine-and-food-pairing consultant Marlene van der Westhuizen, and the international judge for the 2015 competition, Tim Atkin – wine master, wine journalist and co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, judged the entries in the two categories.

Marlene van der Westhuizen, who spoke at the presentation ceremony at the Franschhoek Literary Festival on Friday on behalf of the judges, said that the decision of this year’s winners was unanimous.

The entries were judged without the names of the writers attached, and the judging panel considered the following criteria in making their decisions:

• Excellent, well-informed writing of literary quality
• Technical accuracy
• Fresh perspectives and insights
• Good storytelling
• In the case of the short-form entries, consistent excellence throughout the year

The cash prizes of R12 500 to each winner, were presented by the CEO of the Franschhoek Wine Valley, Jenny Prinsloo.

Wine Writers Invited to Submit Entries for Two Prizes

In the 7th year of the annual Franschhoek Literary Festival Wine Writers’ Award, we invite writers to submit entries in one or two categories, to win prizes with a total value of R25 000.

Writers who live in South Africa are invited to enter the short-form and/or long-form categories. Wine journalism on a South African wine topic will be considered. If necessary, articles will be translated for judging purposes.

Writers entering articles for consideration for the short-form prize should submit 6-8 pieces of up to 1 000 words each, written for a column or a blog. At least six pieces must be submitted to offer the judges the opportunity to assess the consistency of writing across the range.

Entries for the long-form prize should be between 1 000 and 4 000 words. They can either be unpublished, or published between 1 March 2014 and 28 February 2015. Only one entry per writer will be accepted.

The closing date for submission is Tuesday 31 March 2015.

• Articles should be submitted in MSWord format to adonald@mweb.co.za.

• Include a cover page with the author’s name, the publication and date of publication for short-form entries and previously published long-form entries, the article title, and the author’s contact details.

• State whether the submission is for the short-form or long-form prize.

• Short-form pieces must be sent in one batch, not individually.

The entries will be sent, without names attached, to a panel of independent judges, comprised of two local wine experts – radio broadcaster John Maytham and chef/cookbook writer/wine-and-food-pairing consultant Marlene van der Westhuizen, and the international judge for the 2015 competition, Tim Atkins – wine master, wine journalist and co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge.

The judging panel will consider the following criteria in making their decisions:

• Excellent, well-informed writing of literary quality

• Technical accuracy

• Fresh perspectives and insights

• Good storytelling – wit and humour welcome

• In the case of the short-form entries, consistent excellence across all the entries.

The judges’ decision will be final.

The winner in each category will receive R12 500, and the overall winner, chosen from the two category winners, will receive an original artwork.

The prizes the 2015 Wine Writers’ Awards are funded by the Franschhoek Literary Festival, and will be presented by the CEO of the Franschhoek Wine Valley at a special event at the festival.

For information on the Franschhoek Literary Festival or the Wine Writers Awards, contact Ann Donald at adonald@mweb.co.za.

The Franschhoek Wine Valley and the Franschhoek Literary Festival are delighted to announce the winners of the two categories for the 2014 FWV SA Wine Writers’ Awards.

The judging panel was comprised of:

• CapeTalk broadcaster, literary critic and wine enthusiast, John Maytham

• Chef and author of six bestselling cookbooks, teacher of French Brasserie Luxe cooking and a wine-and-food pairing consultant, Marlene van der Westhuizen, and

• British wine columnist for The Independent, and contributor to Decanter, The World of Fine Wine, Revue du Vin de France, China and Shanghai Daily, Anthony Rose

The comments below, supplied by Anthony Rose, sum up the discussion and decisions of the panel.

The winner of the long form category, for his piece titled From O’Keefe to Lismore and back, in high heels, published on the digital magazine website www.landnsand.co.za in October 2013, is Jacques van Zyl.

Comment: This is perhaps the most elegiac of all the pieces and is beautifully written and constructed. It draws you in and drills down to the wine itself with its very personal description of the winemaker and its beautiful evocation of the wine. There’s a moving voice here that combines personality, subjective and objective, and wine into one seamless whole.

Tim James took the honours in the short form category for six blog posts on www.grape.co.za, posted between April 2013 and January 2014.

Comment: We like the scope of this entry and the good humour and compassion behind the writing style which is easy and unpretentious, all the time dwelling on the things that matter in wine, i.e the wine itself. Championing pinotage, a controversial subject, is done well. In its quiet way, for the wine values it espouses, this is a powerful voice.

Of the two winners, the entry that received the unanimous vote of all the judges in its category was that of Jacques van Zyl, and thus he will receive in addition to his cash prize, an original artwork selected by the Franschhoek Wine Valley, under whose auspices the Wine Writers’ Prizes falls.

The entries were judged without the names of the writers attached, and the judging panel considered the following criteria in making their decisions:

• Excellent, well-informed writing of literary quality

• Technical accuracy

• Fresh perspectives and insights

• Good storytelling

• In the case of the short-form entries, consistent excellence throughout the year

The cash prizes the 2014 Wine Writers’ Awards were presented by the CEO of the Franschhoek Wine Valley, Jenny Prinsloo, at a special event on Friday 16 May 2014.

The three judges for the Franschhoek Literary Festival Wine Writers’ Prizes in 2014 are:

John Maytham – CapeTalk broadcaster, literary critic and wine enthusiast.

Anthony Rose – British wine columnist for The Independent, and contributor to Decanter, The World of Fine Wine, Revue du Vin de France, China and Shanghai Daily.

Marlene van der Westhuizen – chef and author of six bestselling cookbooks, including Abundance, Delectable and Sumptuous; teacher of French Brasserie Luxe cooking and a wine-and-food pairing consultant.

Please note that entries are due in by Monday 31 March. For more information click here: http://www.flf.co.za/winewritersprizes/

It is with great pleasure that we send out the call for entries for the 2014 Franschhoek Literary Festival Wine Writers’ Prizes. Changes to the format of the awards now allows for prizes to be awarded in two categories, as well as a prize for the overall winner selected from the two category winners.

After receiving feedback from a number of people regarding the word count requirements for each of the two categories, the organisers have amended these to the following:

Short form: Up to 1000 words
Long form: 1000-4000 words

Please find a document outlining the criteria and rules with these changes, below.

By way of explanation of the long-form category: this was included to offer a new opportunity for those writers who wish to explore a wine topic in greater depth than is possible in shorter formats, in line with publishing opportunities created by new online sites such as Mampoer.com and, along the lines of international publications and websites that publish longer pieces (some up to 15 000 words). As stated in the original release, for this category there is no pre-publication requirement.

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South African wine writers are invited to enter the 5th Annual South African Wine Writers Award. Articles written during 2012 and published in South Africa, or on a recognized South African website, will be considered.

Initiated in 2009, the Wine Writers Award is presented annually by the Franschhoek Wine Valley Tourist Association (FWVTA) in association with the Franschhoek Literary Festival, and carries a R25 000 cash prize.

Norman McFarlane won last year and Edo Heyns was the runner up.

The purpose of the award is to celebrate the art of wine writing, and the articles will be evaluated on both technical accuracy and literary quality.

Each writer may submit one wine-related entry, in the original language of publication. If necessary, they will be translated into English for judging purposes. The articles will be forwarded anonymously to an independent panel of local and international judges chosen by the organizers.

This year the judges are local radio personality, John Maytham; author and BBC radio producer Duncan Minshull; and editor of the Canadian wine magazine, VINES Magazine, Christopher Waters.

After all three judges have agreed on a winner, he or she and the runner-up will be announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival on 17 May this year. The judges’ decision is final.

The closing date for submission is Thursday 18 April 2013.

Articles should be submitted in MSWord format to publicity@flf.co.za. Please supply the following information on a separate page: author, publication, date of publication, article title and author contact details.

For any enquiries or further information on the festival or the Wine Writers Award please contact Claire Richards at publicity@flf.co.za or on 082 044 6446

Norman McFarlane tasted his first glass of wine at the age of 15, and the years of experience gained ever since has paid off in the form of winning this year’s South African Wine Writers Award. The article that gained him this accolade appeared in Wine Magazine in January 2011, and is entitled “Old Vines: Age does matter”. In addition to the cash prize of R25 000, he also received an artwork donated by the celebrated South African artist, Denby Meyer.

After a career of 30 years in human resources and information technology, McFarlane opted for his first love in life: writing about wine, food (through his Man in the Kitchen persona) and travel. He currently writes for Bolander Lifestyle & Property weekly and for Classic Wine and wine.co.za. He runs two busy blogs: Man in the Kitchen, where he shares his thoughts on wine, food and travel, and Norman’s Musings. He also presents a weekly food column on Radio Helderberg 93.6FM every Thursday.

“I’ve won a number of journalism awards over the years, but this is without question the most significant, and most humbling to date,” he said. “I’m honoured to be one of the very few who have won this prestigious award, the only of its kind for people who write seriously about wine in South Africa.”

The runner-up this year was Edo Heyns, with an article on the Leafroll virus (published in Wineland Magazine) that impressed the judges greatly. “It was the best article I have read on Leafroll that a “consumer” might understand (in at least 5 years). Leafroll is a critical topic for SA, and increasingly the rest of the world. The fact that we have proven it can be beaten is momentous, and as such worthy of words,” said Bruce Jack. “Leafroll Virus was the best writing on this subject I have ever seen, although it’s clearly too heavy to appear in a non-wine specialist publication,” said Matthew Jukes.

The articles were judged by an independent panel of local and international judges, which this year included John Platter (editor of the internationally respected Platter’s South African Wine Guide), Matthew Jukes (wine columnist, voted as the UK’s most influential wine writer in 2011) and Bruce Jack (Flagstone Winery winemaker, and winner of Wine-of-the-Month Club’s Winemaker of the Year 2011).The purpose for the award is to celebrate the art of wine writing, and the articles were evaluated on both technical accuracy and literary quality.

This award was initiated in 2009 as an acknowledgement to and celebration of the literary art of wine writing in South Africa. It is presented annually by the Franschhoek Wine Valley Tourist Association (FWVTA), in association with the Franschhoek Literary Festival, and carries a R25 000 cash prize, and a custom-made artwork. This award was won by Tim James last year, who was also the winner in 2010, and by Joanne Gibson in 2009.

South African wine writers are invited to enter the 4th Annual South African Wine Writers Award. Articles written during 2011 and published in South Africa or on a recognized South African website, will be considered.

The wine writing community of South Africa is invited to submit one wine-related article per journalist. The articles will be anonymously judged by an independent panel of local and international judges. The panel is chosen by the organisers, and this year includes John Platter (founder of the internationally respected Platter’s South African Wine Guide), Matthew Jukes (wine columnist, voted the UK’s most influential wine writer in 2011) and Bruce Jack (Flagstone Winery cellarmaster, and winner of Wine of the Month Club’s Winemaker of the Year award in 2011).

The Wine Writers award was initiated in 2009 in acknowledgement and celebration of the literary art of wine writing in South Africa. It is presented annually by the Franschhoek Wine Valley Tourist Association (FWVTA), in association with the Franschhoek Literary Festival, and carries a R25 000 cash prize, and a custom-made artwork. The award was won by Tim James last year, who was also the winner in 2010, and by Joanne Gibson in 2009.

The purpose of the award is to celebrate the art of wine writing, and the articles will be evaluated on both technical accuracy and literary quality. Articles should be submitted in the original language of publication. If necessary, they will be translated into English for judging purposes.

The articles will be forwarded anonymously to the panel of judges in an electronic PDF format.

After all three judges have agreed on a winner, he or she will be announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival over the weekend of 11 – 13 May this year. The judges’ decision is final.

The closing date for submission is Thursday 12 April 2012. Entries need to be submitted in MSWord format to gilly@thefamousidea.co.za. The following information needs to be supplied: author, publication, date of publication, article title and author contact details.

Cape wine master Tim James was again announced on Friday evening as the winner of the 3rd Annual South African Wine Writers Prize at a function hosted by Franschhoek Wine Valley, in association with the Franschhoek Literary Festival. James was also the winner last year.

The article that won him the R25 000 cash prize and an artwork by Dylan Lewis, was entitled The ghost grape and other mysteries of Constantia, published in The World of Fine Wine, Issue 29, 2010. It was also published on Grape.co.za.

Joanne Gibson’s entry Holy Cow!, published in the August 2010 edition of Wine Magazine, was highly commended by the judges. Gibson was present to receive a case of selected Franschhoek wines as recognition of her contribution. Co-incidentally, Gibson was the winner of the first SA Annual Wine Writers prize in 2009.

Established in 2009, the South African Wine Writers Award celebrates the literary art of wine writing in South Africa.

“It was again an honour and a happy surprise to win, especially knowing some of the other entrants. I think it’s wonderful that the sponsors are trying to encourage South African wine writing in this way and I’m also pleased that they want to reward more “serious” well-researched sort of work rather than frivolous stuff that gets an easy, undemanding readership anyway,” said James. “It is a pity that it’s not easy to place longer, serious articles locally. Hopefully the Award will encourage local publishers as well as local writers,” he added.

James’s wine writing career dates back to 1996 when he won SA Wine magazine’s inaugural ‘New wine writer of the year’ competition. Since then he has written on the subject widely and as a columnist and occasional contributor to various local publications. As the prime mover behind this founding of Grape he acted as its editor in its incarnations as print magazine and formal website. Nowadays in print his main local contribution is as wine columnist for the weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper. Internationally he is one of a tiny number of local wine writers with a consistent presence: for example, he has consulted to the World Atlas of Wine, has been correspondent with Cathy van Zyl for Tom Stevenson’s Wine Report, and writes frequently for the World of Fine Wine.

He has for many years been a taster for Platter’s South African Wine Guide, for which he is also an Associate Editor. Sceptical of large line-ups of wine, he avoids big panel tastings, though has judged smaller competitions. He used to lecture on international topics for the Cape Wine Academy, and became a Cape Wine Master in 1999. James still happily recalls Jancis Robinson describing him as ‘South Africa’s wine controversialist’ and hopes not too much has changed in that regard; she also referred to his ‘scepticism’ and ‘romanticism’ – for which he’ll settle, given the harsher things some other people have had to say. James is at present preparing a book on South African wine for the University of California Press.

The purpose for initiating the award is to celebrate the art of wine writing, and the articles were evaluated anonymously on both technical accuracy and literary quality by a panel of three independent judges. The judges for this year were South African author and journalist Martie Retief-Meiring, author and US Wine critic Jay McInerney and France-based Andrew Jefford, who was International Wine Columnist of the Year at the Louis Roederer Awards 2010.

In addition to the cash component of his prize, James also received an award in the form of a serigraph Avocet by acclaimed South African artist Dylan Lewis. “No-one else seemed to notice at first, as I did, that the form of the long-legged, big-footed bird was somewhat reminiscent of a wine-glass (specifically that old-fashioned flat champagne glass),” said James. “It certainly made it particularly appropriate!” he added.

Image courtesy Artslink.co.za

The Franschhoek Wine Valley Tourist Association (FWVTA) will be awarding the 3rd Annual South African Wine Writers Award at the Franschhoek Literary Festival in May this year.

This award was initiated in 2009 as an acknowledgement to the art of wine writing in South Africa. The R25 000 cash prize, and a custom-made artwork, was won last year by Tim James, and by Joanne Gibson in 2009.

This year, the wine writing community of South Africa is again invited to submit one wine-related article per journalist, written and published during 2010, which will be anonymously judged by a panel of local and international independent judges. The judges for this year are South African author and journalist Martie Retief-Meiring, author and US Wine critic Jay McInerney and France-based Andrew Jefford, who was International Wine Columnist of the Year at the Louis Roederer Awards 2010.

The purpose for the award is to celebrate the art of wine writing, and the articles will be evaluated on both technical accuracy and literary quality.

The closing date for submission is 31 March 2011. Articles should be submitted in the original language of publication. If necessary, they will be translated into English by translators from the University of Stellenbosch.

The articles will be forwarded anonymously to the panel of judges in an electronic PDF format. After all three judges have agreed on a winner, he or she will be announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival on 14 May. The judges’ decision is final.

• Entries need to be submitted in MSWord format to info@thefamousidea.co.za by 31 March 2011. Please ensure that the following are supplied: author, publication, date of publication, article title and author contact details.