.: Muratie's Harvest Festival - family fun under the Simonsberg

Monday, February 20, 2017

Muratie's Harvest Festival - family fun under the Simonsberg

Muratie opens its doors each year for their Harvest celebration and have a relaxed day in the garden with food, good music, lots of wine and fun. We saw the new Art Gallery, passed on the opportunity to stomp some grapes (much enjoyed by the youngsters), tasted their new fermenting wines, took a tractor ride through the vineyards and chilled under the trees with a huge box full of grapes, figs, cheese, bread and other delights accompanied by their wines. It was "Cool bananas" as the chilled Capetonians say

The fun begins with the grape stomping

We preferred to venture into the cellar for the tasting of the juice and fermenting wine

Supervised by winemaker Hattingh de Villiers, here pouring some wine for us to taste

It was a good, interested crowd

Carefully sipping the fermenting young wine. Sensational flavours of fresh fruit like nectarines and plums. But you don’t want to swallow too much or you will start to ferment. Next to Lynne is broadcaster Jon Meinking, tweeting

Rijk Melck discussing the harvest and the wine

Time to taste a tank sample of the Pinot noir

Peter Kampmeinert tastes a little

You could buy hamburgers, boerewors rolls, smoked salmon sandwiches, samoosas and other delectables for lunch

We had a few of these delicacies on the media table to share. Freshly baked bread, a selection of cheeses, ripe figs and grapes, humus, tapenade and pesto with koeksisters and chocolate brownies

Busy cooks

Under the umbrellas enjoying the day

We drank the Laurens Campher, an inspired blend of Chenin, Sauvignon Blanc Verdelho and Viognier. It was so much enjoyed. Stone fruit, nuts, a little smoke and richness from the Viognier