VERITAS 2018

VERITAS JUDGING 49

INTERNATIONAL WINE AND BRANDY EXPERTS JUDGE AT VERITAS

For the 2018 competition, six international judges joined the line-up of expert group of judges representing various countries. Janåke Johansson is a familiar name in wine circles around the world and an expert taster and judge – also a well-known importer of SA wines to Sweden for more than 25 years, who has judged at Veritas several times in the past. UK -based Joe Wadsack currently co-hosts the British TV series BBC Food & Drink and is the new wine expert on This Morning on ITV1 with two other wine enthusiasts. Renowned for his brilliant palate, Joe studied wine in Bordeaux before working as a buyer at Waitrose and is now a consultant and public speaker. He is a regular international judge at wine competitions throughout the world, including the UK, South Africa, Australia, and Chile. Nikita Nördstrom from Sweden worked in the restaurant industry as a sommelier before joining Systembolaget, the Swedish monopoly, in 2013. She completed her WSET Diploma a year later and is the buyer responsible for South Africa and Asia. Richard Kelley MW, heads up Dreyfuss Ashby, a successful importer of South African wine in the UK . He has extensive knowledge of the local wine industry as he worked for seven years for a leading independent wholesaler in South Africa, before returning to the UK in 2001. Since then he has been a great ambassador for South African wine. Tersina Shieh, from Hong Kong, is a marketer turned winemaker who has made wine in the UK, Portugal, South Africa, China and New Zealand. She strives to promote the wine culture in Hong Kong and China, inspiring the average consumer to appreciate and enjoy the product of the vine in a no-nonsense way. She contributes to several wine editorials and has judged at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition. Treve Ring, based on Vancouver Island, Canada, is a wine writer for numerous publications and an executive editor at Gismondi on Wine . She is an established wine judge in Canada, the UK, USA and South Africa and a popular public speaker, certified sommelier and WSET diploma holder. In 2012 she founded Cru Consultancy, a wine education and consultancy company.