Strauss & co - 8 June 2019 (Wine)

Wine Specialists – Higgo Jacobs Higgo Jacobs Curator and Wine Specialist higgo@higgojacobs.com +27 83 343 1422 Higgo Jacobs’s experience in the wine industry spans over 20 years, starting with doing harvests in Stellenbosch in 1998 and ‘99, before being interrupted by a law degree from the University of Stellenbosch. He has experience on either side of the cellar door, first as winemaker’s assistant, then in marketing and sales. Relocating to the UK in 2007, he cut his teeth on the wines of the world, working with highly respected importer Anthony Byrne Fine Wines and later managing the Notting Hill branch in London of award-winning wine merchant Jeroboams. While abroad, he studied with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and certified with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Higgo returned to South Africa in 2008 in the role of resident sommelier at the Steenberg Hotel, after which he began consulting to the industry. He now works with various establishments on their wine programs, driving a variety of projects ranging from annual fine wine events and auctions, to sommelier education and competitions. He is often asked to represent South African wines on local and international platforms. Higgo is a senior judge at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) and Decanter WorldWine Awards and was also on the jury at the ASI Best Sommelier of the World competition this year in Antwerp. He is a founding member and past chairman of the South African Sommelier Association (SASA), which does training and development for the profession in South Africa, as well as a member of the by-laws committee of the ASI (Association de la Sommellerie Internationale), the international regulatory body for the sommelier profession. vi