Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Durbanville Feast of the Grape

The Feast of the Grape festival, held last weekend at the Durbanville Race Course was a new concept for Durbanville, with nine of the farms taking part. There were good wines, food tents and lots of amusement for the children
Kids playing on the jumping castles
Mini tractor rides
Pony rides
and a farmyard petting zoo
A driving service that will get you home safely afterwards, something we really applaud as people can drink too much, especially in the heat of the day
There was lots of shaded seating and tables for eating the delicious food on sale
Martin Moore , Durbanville Hills cellarmaster, and Lynne discuss weighty subjects, talking about harvest and wine making. Martin is one of our ultimate gurus.  He knows a great deal  about the industry and also has many amusing stories.
We sampled a selection of Martin’s Durbanville Hills excellent wines kept nice and cool despite the heat
We also had long chats to Bennie Howard of Meerendal estate and bought some of their delicious Pinotage Rosé for the rest of the summer and some small 375 ml bottles of Sauvignon blanc which they had on special – great for picnics
For John, an inspiring T-shirt. Looking at his foot, it was obvious that this man knew all about it.
A taste of the Altydgedacht wines is always rewarding. We love their bone dry Gewürztraminer and recently enjoyed some of the Ollo white blend at a dinner we had.
Bernhard Veller of Nitida with Mark Herd of Sunset Beach Wines. We also tasted their wines and chatted to the new winemaker Brendan Butler, who has recently joined them after a few years at Jordan wine farm in Stellenbosch.
Relaxing in the food tent at the end of the show with Richard Schroder, Stephen Jeffery and John talking to Warren, the owner/manager of Cassis restaurant on Nitida Wine farm.
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013

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