The Interhotel Challenge was launched in 2013 and has been through a number of interations.
It is organised by Showcook.com - viz Annette Kesler and Chania Morrit-Smith.
This competition involves hotels and hospitality businesses, working with their staff to train and uplift, raising the bar of professionalism in the wine and food world of hospitality, Cape Legends was a division of the then Distell and each of the hotels participating were matched with a wine from the Cape Legends stable, giving them the opportunity to pair their food with the wines selected. The 2013 Interhotel Challenge was the inaugural one, and the candidates participating here are now top sommeliers in their own right, most notably the winner of the 2013 Wine Steward award, Tinashe Nyamoduko, who went on to be the Sommelier at The Test Kitchen and launched his own wine brand, Kumusha wines.
The Up-and-Coming Wine Steward award went to Ndaba Ndlovu - who is now (2025) the Food and Beverage Director at The President Hotel.