Pittsburgh wine professional vying for national title

A Pittsburgh guy will compete against Californians for a wine title.

Adam Knoerzer, dean of drinking and head of educational programming at Palate Partners & Dreadnought Wines in Lawrenceville, has earned a spot in the national finals in the “Wines of South Africa Sommelier Cup 2019.”

A sommelier is a wine steward, a trained and knowledgeable wine professional.

The competition which is held every three years, tests sommeliers’ knowledge of South African wine, with the ultimate prize of a trip to South Africa in September to compete against other finalists.

Knoerzer will travel to New York City for the next competition which consists of a wine tasting on Sunday and a three-part test on Monday. Some events will be held at Corkbuzz, a series of wine-centric restaurants, as well as at other venues in the Big Apple.

“I am doing this for the love of the subject matter,” said Knoerzer, a Friendship resident. “I am a guy from Pittsburgh who is going into this from a position of fun and enjoyment and to help showcase Pittsburgh as much as I possibly can.”

Knoerzer took his first exam for the contest in the Finger Lakes, a region of New York State known for its wineries. Since January, “Wines of South Africa” held 16 master classes and written quizzes across the nation.

Knoerzer had one of the top six scores of over 150 participants.

The next round features a short-answer portion on the contemporary South African wine industry, a food and wine pairing challenge, and blind tasting, during which they will evaluate unlabeled wines and guess the grape variety, age, and area of production within South Africa, he said.

The top scorer in the national final will represent the U.S. in Cape Town in September and compete against other nations’ winners, including Canada, Germany, Sweden, the UK, and more.

Even if he doesn’t win, Knoerzer will be part of the delegation flying to Cape Town in September to visit producers in the wine lands to help continue to strengthen his existing relationships in the Western Cape while making new ones and meeting more important industry players, he said.

He will continue to share his knowledge through his South African Wine Safari class series in Lawrenceville.

The first two stops on the series sold out. There are a few seats remaining for his Aug. 21 class on CapeTown and November 7 class on Stellenbosch.

We are over the moon right now, sippers! Adam has made it to the top five in the country in the Wines of South Africa 2019 Sommelier Cup! That’s right, our beyond awesome Somm is headed to… https://t.co/j7C3MYAe7k

— Palate Partners (@palate_partners) May 8, 2019

Knoerzer is an Indiana native, who made his way to Pittsburgh in 2011 after stints in New York and Paris. He speaks French, Portuguese and Spanish. He is an aficionado of off-the-beaten-path regions and varieties with a particular passion for and expertise in the wines of South Africa.

He recently shortlisted for the “Future 50” Awards sponsored by the London-based Wine & Spirit Education Trust and International Wine & Spirit Competition highlighting the next generation of wine and spirits professionals, according to a news release.

“Pittsburgh is the ‘City of Champions,’ and I fully intend to keep that moniker alive,” he said. “I love African wines and what began as an unknown wine choice here, these African wines are more and more available, and there is a thirsty community out there wanting to try new wines.”