HIGGO JACOBS: A law graduate from Stellenbosch, Higgo was lured into the wine industry after his studies, and what was meant to be a sabbatical ended up as a way of life. Certified with the Court of Master Sommeliers, Higgo consults to various establishments; judges on wine competitions and publications locally and abroad, and tries his hand occasionally at writing.

The UVC Wine Challenge provides an objective, independent and professional rating of South Africa’s best value wines.  All wines sell for under R130 per bottle.

Judging panels are comprised of prominent and experienced local experts who can objectively assess just how good a wine really is. Each panel enjoys a talented mix of wine fundi’s and a hugely respected chair, adding to the level of debate and the rigour of achieving a final wine-quality score.

• Six bottles of each wine are available
• White wines will be served at approximately 14°C
• Red wines will be served at approximately 19°C
• Bubblies will be served at approximately 7°C
• Two bottles are used per tasting flight as a minimum
• The Tasting Director will arrange flights and supervise administration

• Judges are independent and answer only to panel chairs.
• All wines are judged ‘blind’, thus the judges aren’t aware of the origin of the wine.
• Wines are judged by cultivar or variety in their flights.
• Discussion is allowed for faulty wines and protocol breach.
• Following the initial tastings, and as an absolute minimum, wines within a certain score band can be re-tasted twice further in order to confirm their placement.
• There is a post flight panel discussion, score calibration and recording.
• The panel will record and sign off on its agreed scores.
• The 20-point scoring system is applied to record wine quality.
• Winning wines will be those that score above a certain threshold.
• An algorithm formula will adjust score by price attractiveness, for the final ‘Value’ score out of 100.