Sunday saw us summoned to be at Diemersdal by
9.30am for the media briefing of the Season of Sauvignon, which actually had begun
the previous day, Saturday. We managed it even after a rather hectic week and saw
the tents and marquees with the food trucks setting up. The festival was
different this year in that your Computicket pass was for just one farm, which
you had to choose. If you wanted to move to another farm you would have to buy
another ticket. This was your chance to experience one farm in depth. As media
we were given special passes which enabled us to move from farm to farm so we
could see what was happening
Thys Louw, winemaker of Diemersdal
and chairman of the Durbanville Valley, chatting with Siobhan Thompson, CEO of WOSA
Here we could taste the
Sauvignons Blanc from every farm involved in the festival, which was 12 out of
the 18 in the valley
We loved the Diemersdal 2017
Sauvignon blanc
One of the farm horses was
having such fun gambolling around the lake
Winnie Bowman CWM and her
sister Lynne having fun with one of the tweeting signs
Standing under the trees
tasting the wine, it was becoming a very hot day.
We all took advantage of any
shade
They had organised a brunch for
the media in the Farmhouse Eatery. This was the menu
When everyone had arrived, we all
moved inside the restaurant
Clever piece of table
decoration, many plants growing hydroponically
These are the canapés served. From
Left to Right, the steamed hake topped with a sliver of raw scallop and
strawberries, the vegetarian option - a slice of butternut with a pumpkin seed
pesto and halloumi; the sliced of very tender lamb rib eye with a little
dribble of bordelaise sauce and the very salty smoked duck with a Pinotage
mousse. This was a portion for three people
Angela Fourie, who does the PR
for the Durbanville Valley
Love those frog princes!
Thys tells us more about the
festival and the wines
The restaurant manager tells us
about the canapés
After Brunch, John took a walk
around to see what Diemersdal had to offer
Food tents including Kitchen
Cowboys
And some fussball!
A large marquee for those
seeking shade
There was a band at one end
The farm's tasting room and the
garden where the media were relaxing
Then it was time to move to
another farm and we headed off to see what Klein Roosboom was doing
They too had a marquee with a
band and we met a some of our readers, also enjoying the farm and its wine
Some food tents
and a lovely place to taste
their wine was at this tiny table in the middle of the vines
The tiny grapes are surviving
the drought and the heat. We hope they do produce good grapes this year
Next we ventured to Durbanville
Hills, which is across the road from Klein Roosboom. They too had lots of food
trucks set up in the parking areas and were very busy indeed. The car park had been
moved to a nearby field and was almost full and they had arranged a shuttle to
get visitors up to the main buildings
They had a marquee there as
well
And up on the main lawns the
festival was pumping, with good music and lots of happy people. The heat drove
us into the cooler tasting room area where we met marketing manager Kate
Jackson
Oh so enticing was the cold
bubby. We loved the new Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc which has just been launched.
It is nice and crisp and has a very attractive bottle too
And the white wines; we tasted
both our favourite Durbanville Hills Sauvignons Blanc, the Rhinofields and the
Vineyard Selection Biesjies Kraal
The tasting station was busy
We had a lovely time chatting
to an old friend, Cellar master Martin Moore and supping some of their
Sauvignon Blanc upstairs in the restaurant . It was a lovely way to end a
festival
As we left at about 3.30 the
festival at Durbanville Hills was still pumping
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
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