So Franschhoek has again announced plans to run a wine writers competition, but this time with two interesting features:

prize money has been halved to R12,500 by splitting the award in two, judgement of Solomon style. Entrants to submit 6-8 pieces of up to 1000 words each, written for a column or a blog and one long-form entry between 1000 and 4000 words. The total prize pot is the same as when the controversial competition started many moons ago.

John Maythem, the discredited Cape Town radio personality who destroyed the credibility of the competition this year through grossly unprofessional and inappropriate behaviour “will once again be on the judges’ panel. Two additional judges, to be announced at a later date, will join him.”

After Mayhem trashed all the previous winners this year including even the slippery Wine Lizard, local agent for Louis Roederer Champagne who won a wine writing prize from them, it will be interesting to see how craven SA wine writers really are. And wine judges, too.