The Classroom in the Hemel
en Aarde complex,
the cooking school which was the venue for the event
Bartho and Suné Eksteen
discuss their programme, the day ahead
and the procedures and exciting wines we will taste
Bartho introduces the programme
Jillian Johnson, owner/winemaker
of Onesta wines in Napa Valley, California
gave a very interesting talk on growing and making wine in California,
Sauvignon Blanc in particular.
She has
worked in South Africa as well as other areas around the world.
Duckthorn and Honig were
two of the California Sauvignons blanc we tasted.
They are very different
indeed from South African sauvignons
Grgich Hills Estate
produces Essence which is a dry sauvignon. Honig noble late harvest is a very
muscatty dessert wine
The lecture room at the
Cooking School in the Hemel and Aarde village
Two of the sponsors of the
day, from Laffort Oenologie,who supply wine yeasts, enzymes and other chemicals
to the wine industry, discuss a point with Bartho
Tasting glass with Honig
NLH
Anton Smal of Bramon Wines
explains what they are doing at the Bramon vineyard, just north of Plettenberg
Bay
Jose Condé of Starke Condé
explains the techniques he uses
Charles Hopkins,
cellarmaster at De Grendel, put forward many interesting topics to be discussed
about Sauvignon Blanc
Master of Wine Richard Kershaw
A smoked salmon salad was one of the dishes
served for lunch
Mini fish cakes and tiny
quiches
A very good terrine made,
we think, with duck
Slices of cold Kassler
smoked pork
A selection of breads
Sushi, which always
disappears fast
3 patés
The buffet lunch spread
The afternoon tasting,
probably the most popular part of the day, where we tasted 20 sauvignons blanc,
local and from around the world, blind and scored them.
The bottles are revealed,
some were quite a surprise, some had been recognised
A group of happy wine makers
and Jillian Johnson with the men from Laffort
People congregating for
the dinner.
Lots of good conversation.
We drank the wines Bartho produced with his Wine Academy students
The starter - a prawn on a
slice of white fish with a mussel, pea puree and a seafood oil
The main course: a chicken roulade, rabbit paté and venison,
with potato puree and a selection of mushrooms
Saying thank you to the
trainee chefs and staff
who cooked and looked after us for the day.
Suné closing proceedings
and telling us about next year’s event to be held on the 29th November 2013
Dessert in 3 parts A lemon
tart, a vanilla ice cream and a compote of Cape gooseberries
Bartho with Jan-Hendrik
Joubert of Baleia Bay wines in Riversdale
One of the Australian
wines we tasted earlier
Jillian Johnson, Anton Smal
and German winemaker Mareike Jensen
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus cc, 2012
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