Some
festivals are just smarter (in both senses of the word) than others and this
one outshone many others. Held in the grounds of Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek,
there were plenty of tables, chairs and umbrellas, an intelligent limited lunch
menu and some great and interesting, mostly Franschhoek, Rosé wines and MCCs.
We took our foreign visitors and had a wonderfully relaxed day. Well done, Darielle
You didn't have to walk from the crowded parking,
but could take a veteran tractor ride through the vineyards
Rickety Bridge Manor House hotel with a raft of
shady umbrellas in front of it
Even though we arrived at 11h45, we still found a
good table
Owner Gerard Holden of Holden Manz on their stand
with Marketing Manager Wayne Buckley and their very good 2015 Rosé from Shiraz,
Cabernet, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The Cab Franc adds a good savouriness and
it was one of the best of the day
Ann Ferreira on the Le Lude stand with their newly
released MCC Brut Rosé - so elegant and crisp, another favourite. There were
some good MCC Rosés including the Haute Cabrière, another we love
Pouring a tasting for our friend Terry Rodbard, visiting from Greece
The tasting tables were right behind the seating,
so you could get a glass and sit down to enjoy it. The tastings worked
on a voucher system
Steve Chase of Foothills Vineyards pouring his 2014 Dry Rosé, made from shiraz, viognier and a dash of semillon
Raymond Noppé of Delheim with their Pinotage Rosé
2015
Wine cooling nicely. It was a hot day, despite the
early promise of rain
Paul Gerber of Le Lude and Kean Maske chatting with Dawie Botha, winemaker of
Anthonij Rupert Wines, who were showcasing the L'Ormarins Brut Rosé and the
Protea Rosé, and Nic Barrow owner of Le Lude
Innocent Mpahleni of Boekenhoutskloof with the Wolftrap Rosé
2015 - as expected, a good value Rosé
Now this is one we didn't understand. You come to
exhibit your wine at a festival but you don’t allow people, good potential high
spending customers - and a lot of
wine was sold on the day - to taste your wine. You could buy a bottle at R250
or a glass at R50. Surely you have a marketing budget like all the other
wineries do? It is from Chateau d'Esclans in Provence but it was very similar
in taste to the Solms Delta at R55 a bottle. We don't get the French marketing
strategy
Berenike Knierim was a lovely friendly face on their stand
Estelle Oosthuizen pouring a tasting of Vrede en Lust
On the restaurant terrace, there were more tables and you
could buy coffee and bottles of wine to drink with lunch or to take home
Inside the restaurant. There was a good limited
menu but we don’t think they were equipped to handle 400 orders in one hour
Queuing to order and pay
GM of Rickety Bridge, Jan van Huyssteen, with
festival organiser Darielle Robertson
The lunch menu
The salmon roulade, which the girls on our table
chose
and the good cheese burger and, sadly, very slap
(half cooked) chips, which all the men had
There was lots of entertainment for the children,
jumping castles and even a water pool
and games to play
Dieter Sellmeyer from Lynx wines with their Blanc
de Noir, made from Merlot. It was delicious, crisp and dry, exactly our style of Rosé
Anne Ferreira with Darielle Robertson at the end
of a busy and very successful day
The wines you could taste and buy
©
John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
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