The Trophy Wine Show

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Judges 2022

The Trophy Wine Show judging takes place at The Westin Cape Town from 13 – 16 June 2022. The panel comprises three international and six local judges covering a broad range of wine tasting experience, expertise and working with a 100-point scoring system. The panel has been chaired by leading wine authority Michael Fridjhon since the inception of the show in 2002.

Click images to view biographies.

Show Chairman

Michael Fridjhon
Michael Fridjhon

International Judges

Eric Goettelmann
Eric Goettelmann (France)
Anthony Mueller
Anthony Mueller (USA)
Anthony Rose
Anthony Rose (UK)

South African Judges

Tongai Joseph Dhafana
Tongai Joseph Dhafana
Heidi Duminy
Heidi Duminy CWM
Spencer Fondaumiere
Spencer Fondaumiere
Gynore Fredericks
Gynore Fredericks
Patson Mathonsi
Patson Mathonsi
JD Pretorius
JD Pretorius
Francois Rautenbach
François Rautenbach
Cathy van Zyl
Cathy van Zyl MW

Judges

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Michael Fridjhon

Michael Fridjhon

Show Chairman

Chairman of the judges at the Trophy Wine Show. Author, co-author and contributor to a number of wine books including The Oxford Companion to Wine, The Global Wine Encyclopaedia, and Platter’s South African Wine Guide. Recipient of the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite Agricole (France). Judge at numerous competitions including the Australian National Wine Show, the Six Nations Wine Challenge in Australia (now the Global Fine Wine Challenge), as well as benchmark tastings in France, the United States, Chile and South Africa. First international co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge (2007). Visiting Professor of Wine Business at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business and head of the Wine Judging Academy run in association with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. Winner of the Louis Roederer International Wine Columnist of the Year award (2012). Recipient of the SA Wine Industry Wine Appreciation and Wine Advancement Award (2021).

Eric Goettelmann

Eric Goettelmann (France)

International Judge

Executive Sommelier of the multi-Michelin-starred Relais Bernard Loiseau Group. Holder of an International Master of Wine and Spirits degree. Voted Best Burgundy Sommelier in 2004, 2006 and 2008 and, since 2009, has headed up the cellar at the legendary restaurant in Saulieu founded by the late Bernard Loiseau. In 2007, he and Dominique Loiseau devised a sophisticated wine-by-the-glass service for which they were awarded the Grand Prix of the Wine Press of Burgundy, the Palmes Award of the Leaders Club in 2008. Named Sommelier of the Year in 2006 by Le Chef Magazine and again in 2010 by the Champérard Gastronomic Guide. Received his Gold International Sommelier Association Certification (ASI Gold) in 2018, and in 2019 was named Best Sommelier in France in addition to receiving the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite Agricole (Knight of the National Order of Agricultural Merit). In 2020 he worked as Executive Chef Sommelier at the iconic Paul Bocuse Restaurant in Lyon. He judged at The Trophy Wine Show in 2013 and 2016, and will also serve as a judge for The Trophy Spirits Show this year.

Anthony Mueller

Anthony Mueller (USA)

International Judge

A sommelier and wine presenter with more than 20 years of experience in the food and wine industry. In 2019, he joined the Robert Parker Wine Advocate as a reviewer, having worked as a sommelier at some of the top restaurants in the US – including The French Laundry, a three-Michelin star establishment in Yountville, California. Holder of numerous wine certifications, including the Advanced Sommelier certificate from the Court of Master Sommeliers, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 3 Award in Wines, the Certified Specialist of Wine certificate from the Society of Wine Educators and the Certified Sake Advisor certificate from the Sake School of America. He is also a Certified Sherry Wine Specialist and, most recently, was accepted into the Master of Wine (MW) study programme.

Anthony Rose

Anthony Rose (UK)

International Judge

Appointed wine correspondent of The Independent in 1986, writing a weekly column from start to finish of the print version which was discontinued in 2016. Contributor to publications including Decanter Magazine, The World of Fine Wine, The Real Review, The Financial Times’ How to Spend It (online) and the Oxford Companion to Wine. Winner of an award from The Wine Guild of the United Kingdom, three Glenfiddich Wine Writer of the Year prizes and the Louis Roederer Champagne Writer of the Year Award. Panel chair for Southern Italy at the Decanter World Wine Awards. Following his first visit to Japan in 2007, he now teaches a sake consumer course in London and in 2018 authored Sake and the Wines of Japan (part of the Infinite Ideas Classic Wine Library) which was nominated for Drink Book of the Year at the 2019 Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards. His book on Champagne and the Sparkling Wines of the World in the same series was published in 2021 and has been nominated in the Drink Books category for the 2022 Guild of Food Writers Annual Awards. Judge at the inaugural Trophy Wine Show in 2002, and again in 2008 as well as 2012.

Tongai Joseph Dhafana

Tongai Joseph Dhafana

South African Judge

Refugee-turned-winemaker, award-winning sommelier, philanthropist, owner of Mosi Wines and Spirits, wine judge. Holder of a CMS Introductory certificate, WSET certificate and SASA Level 2 certificate. Graduate of the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy. Captained Team Zimbabwe at the World Blind Tasting Championships in 2017 and 2018, having become a member of Team South Africa in 2015. Winner of the 2019 Eat Out Wine Service Award while at top South African restaurant La Colombe, Constantia. One of four Zimbabweans in the documentary Blind Ambition, which won the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival in 2021. Associate judge at The Trophy Wine Show in 2021.

Heidi Duminy

Heidi Duminy CWM

South African Judge

Cape Wine Master and Principal of the Cape Wine Academy. Formerly communications manager for DGB, brand manager for Veuve Clicquot and Krug and trade marketing manager of the LVMH portfolio of Champagnes and spirits. Wine marketing specialist and group marketing manager for Meridian Holdings. Distinction graduate of the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy in 2011 and Advanced Wine Judging Academy attendee in 2014. Particular expertise in judging Cap Classique sparkling wines: convener for the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge since 2017, the Diner’s Club Winemaker of the Year panel in 2020 and sparkling wine judge at the Veritas Awards since 2011. Associate judge at The Trophy Wine Show in 2012, 2014 and 2015, judge since 2016.

Spencer Fondaumiere

Spencer Fondaumiere

South African Judge

Chairperson of the South African Sommeliers’ Association, founder of Wineyard East Africa as well as co-founder and managing director of Somm on Call. Kenyan-born, he began his journey in wine when he moved to South Africa in 2013. One of only two ASI (Association de la Sommellerie Internationale) sommeliers from South Africa, completed WSET Level 3 and a graduate of the Michael Fridjhon Judging Academy in 2016. A qualified chef, previously the operations manager and sommelier for the Open Door group of restaurants and brand manager at Warwick Wine Estate. Regular panel member at several leading wine competitions including The Trophy Wine Show, where he has served as an associate judge from 2016 to 2019 and as a judge since 2020.

Gynore Fredericks

Gynore Fredericks

South African Judge

Winemaker of Great Heart Wines and assistant winemaker at Mullineux and Leeu Family Wines. Completed her BAgric in Viticulture and Oenology at Elsenburg in 2016. Participant in the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme from 2017 to 2019, during which she worked at Tokara, De Grendel as well as Mullineux & Leeu. Worked a harvest in Burgundy in 2018. Distinction graduate from the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy. Associate judge at The Trophy Wine Show in 2021.

Patson Mathonsi

Patson Mathonsi

South African Judge

Regional sales manager at Spier Wine Estate. Eat Out Wine Service Award in 2014. Head Sommelier at DW11-13 Restaurant in Johannesburg and sales representative at The Reciprocal Wine Trading Company from 2015 until 2018. Completed the Cape Wine Academy Certificate in Wine and WSET Levels 1, 2 and 3, and a member of the Hugues Lepin Sommelier and Wine Academy. Graduate of the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy in 2016. Associate judge at The Trophy Wine Show from 2016 to 2018 and judge since 2019.

JD Pretorius

JD Pretorius

South African Judge

Graduated from Stellenbosch University in 2007 with a BSc Viticulture and Oenology degree. Cellarmaster at Warwick Wine Estate since May 2019, having previously been with Steenberg, with stints at Beyerskloof, Graham Beck and in California. Cape Winemakers Guild member since 2018. Diner’s Club Young Winemaker of the Year in 2014. Sauvignon Blanc South Africa committee member. Regular judge at The Trophy Wine Show.

Francois Rautenbach

François Rautenbach

South African Judge

Heads up the Premier Wine Direct programme for the Singita Conservation brand, sourcing and supplying wines for the group’s 15 lodges and camps in four African countries. Deeply invested in hospitality – having lived and worked in Africa, France, the UK and Australia – always with the emphasis on food and wine excellence. Cape Wine Academy Diploma graduate. Graduated with distinction at the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy in 2008 and attended the Michael Fridjhon Advanced Wine Judging Academy in 2014. Served as an associate judge at the Trophy Wine Show in 2008, then as a judge from 2011 to 2017 and again since 2019.

Cathy van Zyl

Cathy van Zyl MW

South African Judge

Master of Wine. Associate editor of Platter’s South African Wine Guide and co-author of the South African chapter in The Wine Report for several years. Previous chair and now vice-chair of the Institute of Masters of Wine’s education committee. Lectures internationally, mostly in Japan and China, occasionally contributing to wine journals and websites around the world. In 2019, named the Institute of Cape Wine Masters’ Personality of the Year for her passionate promotion of SA wine. An occasional panellist for several other local competitions, she has also judged overseas, with stints at Vinitaly’s Consurso Enologico Internacional, the Sydney International Wine Competition, the Shanghai International Wine Competition, Decanter’s World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge. Judge at The Trophy Wine Show from 2003 to 2011 and again since 2020.