On Thursday, 11th February, 2010, the theatre of Le Cent Quarte was transformed to a glittering celebration in honour of Food and Wine books. The international publishing industry, authors, photographers and members of the media from around the world joined the Cointreau family in Paris to pay tribute of this year's guests of honour: The finalists of the 2009 Gourmand competition.

Publisher Elmari Swart joined the winning ranks again this year with Cheviot Publishing's latest title, The Essential Guide to South African Wines (by E Swart & I Smit). The title was voted as one of the two World's Best Books in the category Wine Atlas or Tourism Guide. Said Swart: "It is a huge honour to be counted amongst the best wine books in the world! I am very privileged to fly the flag for South Africa at the Gourmand World Gala". Elmari also presented a wine tasting to the visitors of the Paris Book Fair to highlight key components of South African terroir.

The gala was a highlight on the culinary calendar with visitors travelling from far and wide to attend. While the European countries along with the Americas dominated the entry numbers (60%+), the East as well as Africa saw a significant increase in finalist numbers. The winning titles and a wide selection of culinary and wine books will be exhibited this year at the Cape Town Book Fair (30 July – 3 August 2010), in a special exhibition of food and wine books from South Africa, and other countries of the African Continent.

Cheviot Publishing would like to thank the organisers for a magnificent Gala event and congratulate all winners!!!

• Gourmand Wine Atlas
• Gourmand South African winners
• Gourmand wine exhibitors video 

Gourmand award winner Elmari Swart (middle) with Yves-Laurent Svarc of the Gourmand Awards (right) and French radio interviewer Sylvain Ouchikh