Pearl Oliver: I am generally a passionate person - I take every task I get and confront it with a serious attitude and always try to give my best. I am most passionate about ensuring that those on the receiving end can feel the warmth and care when they are served and this is honestly where it all comes from. Being able to work with amazing produce from the lands of those who had toiled in it before us and being an ambassador in so many ways is a duty which calls for such ardor.
Oliver: I discovered my love of wine early on and enrolled in the Cape Wine Academy in 2008. I won the Best Wine Steward of the Year Award from the Diners Club wine list challenge in 2009. I accrued a wealth of experience from some of Cape Town’s top hotels and apply this to my role at the Taj Cape Town.
I've served on exclusive wine panels such as the SA Top 12 Shiraz, the Ultra liquor Best Value, Amorim Methode Cap Classique 2015 and judged for the Winelands magazine and Garagiste wine. I joined the RECM wine tasting panel with Neil Pendock appearing on season 3 of Master Chef SA as a Sommelier judge. Most recently, I was selected as one of the top 15 finalists of the South African Wine Tasting Championship.
It has been quite a journey, but what I can say is that I worked hard to get to where I am today and I have not done half of what I need to do yet, to get to where I am heading.
Oliver: Diverse. What I like about being sommelier at Taj is that it’s not like other hotels. Here we all push hard and we push each other even harder. We thrive on the success of one another and work towards a common goal of exceeding guests' expectation. I have a medley of things I do, from serving wine to channeling business. Counting stock, training staff, tasting wine. No day is like the other as some days you do get involve in things which are not Food or Beverage related, but these are the days that we learn and grow.
Oliver: Lamb Shank at Bombay Brasserie! The scope of wine opportunity that there is - the cuisine is absolutely intriguing and encourages creative and out of the box pairings.
Oliver: I have always been proud of being named wine steward of the year with Diners Club 2009, however, going to the UCT, Executive School of Business and doing my postgraduate diploma in wine business management practice helped me understand the value of the trade and also our growth as a wine country. I also feel like my best achievement is yet to come!
Oliver: I would like to believe that as a Food and Beverage team we collectively contributed to this award, we constantly strive for excellence in our department and improving our beverage offering.
Oliver: I love Champagne. A good gracious Blanc De Blanc or Vintage Blanc De Blanc often gets me all tingled up, however, my response is based on my mood and my mood today has decided that I should drink Gamay – Pinot Noir from Louis Jadot 2014 Coteaux Bourguignons.
For my choice of SA wines, I would drink Touch Warwick Cabernet Sauvignon, because I can see it bring me through any winter, happily.
