Meet the Technical Director of the Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards

Christine Rudman needs no introduction to the South African wine industry, nor to the international community who follow the country’s wines. A Cape Wine Master, Christine is a seasoned judge, writer and over-all influencer with over four decades experience in the industry. Since 2015, Christine is Technical Director of the Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards, a competition she has been involved in as judge since 2007. She was asked about this competition in general and specifically her role as Technical Director.

The wine competition space in South Africa is pretty cluttered. What differentiates Michelangelo?

It is South Africa’s only truly international competition, and has been so from day one. There will be 22 international tasters flown in from around the world this year, the most ever, 20 on wine, two on spirits, to join accredited local tasters. As far as having an international influence on rating our wines, no other South Africa competition even comes close.

You live in the South African wine industry: how is Michelangelo perceived by producers?

Since last year, Michelangelo has been the largest local bottled wine and spirit competition with close on 2 000 entries. We get extremely positive feedback from producers, many saying it’s the first competition they enter, and that the award sticker on the bottle sells product. The competition is now seen as a sales tool for successful producers.

Why do you think producers should enter Michelangelo? What are the benefits in this cluttered arena of wine promotions, shows, competitions?

As Michelangelo grows in size and reputation and gets increased exposure, it follows that successful producers get higher visibility in the market as well as major exposure through the many media communication channels. Just look at the opportunities that have arisen this year with Airlink and Tsogo Sun coming on-board as sponsors. And if international sales to different countries forms a big part of your sales strategy, this competition will give valuable feed-back and perspective.

Why do you prefer the 100pt scoring system?

All the top international competition use it. In fact OIV provides the guidelines and can be downloaded for info. It means the scores can be fine-tuned, it allows for subtle differences between wines which the old 20 point system doesn’t.

What are the benefits of having foreign judges? Are their palates not unfamiliar to SA wine styles?

You must take into account that 60% of SA wines are exported, and that figure is often higher for individual producers. We are not operating in isolation so it’s very important to get feedback. Our tasters are journalists, critics, sommeliers – people of influence in their own countries, who judge on numerous shows and are true experts. Otherwise we wouldn’t invite them.

What is the role of Technical Director and your responsibilities?

It is important to know that the Michelangelo Wine and Spirits Awards is run by a very small group of people – five in total! We all have very specific responsibilities. There are no committees and lengthy talk-shops, it’s really a hands-on approach from each of us.

My role is to make sure the classes for judging meet the legal and entry requirements, to check every entry, to make sure it’s in the correct class, that panels are complete, compatible, and that their wine and spirit allocation across all the classes is apportioned across the six days of judging.

I have to ensure the tasting days run smoothly, wine queries are resolved immediately, that panels are productive and the results get to the auditor as quickly as possible.

Then there is a lot of pre-emptive planning. One of my first recommendations as Technical Director was to put a local taster at each panel. The competition had grown so big by 2015 it felt to me that having a local view on wine styles was important, in case any discussion arose from the international judges. But the local tasters had to be credible in their own rights.

In the past, which wine categories have led to the most interest, discussion, excitement?

It differs from year to year, but Chenin is always a surprise and gets comments, with high scores, as does MCC (and remember, we get Champagne entries).

How many tasters to a panel and how are the panels selected?

Each panel has five tasters, four foreign and one local. We look to having a wide spread of countries represented, but there must also be compatibility, the panel must be comfortable tasting the wine allocated. Tasters have different areas of expertise and we go to a lot of trouble to accommodate that.

Are you involved in arbitration and final decisions when panels are undecided?

Something I feel strongly about is that there is no outside influence. If the panel can’t decide about the wine, it is given to another panel a few days later and the scores are averaged.

Have you noticed the judges becoming increasingly impressed by increasing quality of SA wines?

It’s a comment we get every year, the surprise of how high the quality is (if it’s a first time visit), or how the quality has improved since the taster was last here, either as a judge or through some other visit, like Cape Wine, or something self-arranged.

What importance to wine competitions have for the consumer?

The Platter Guide lists over 7000 wines, so the adventurous consumer needs help in deciding what to buy. The sticker on the bottle says a panel has made a selection based on quality. And depending on the credibility of the competition, that is a powerful recommendation.

What has your involvement with Michelangelo taught you about the state of SA wine?

I get to see wines and spirits across a wide spectrum, and I’m continually impressed by not only the quality of what I see, and the continuous improvement, but also the creativity. It feels like there’s a quality revolution happening. Some international markets have discovered that, but I just wish the rest of the wine world would get the message.