Thursday, November 07, 2019

Michelangelo Awards tasting at the Cullinan Hotel

An invitation to attend a private tasting of the Michelangelo trophy winners held this week at the Cullinan Hotel in town
and we were given a warm welcome and a glass of MCC
Hoopenberg's Integer MCC a blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir
SO great to see and chat to Theo and Berinda Basson of Ormonde while sampling their winning wines
The Trophy for the best wine in the Museum Class to the Ormonde Theodore Eksteen 2007. It is a blend of 65% Shiraz, 35% Grenache. Huge concentration of aroma and flavour, lots of fruit and spice notes and a little wildness from the Grenache
and a very worthy winner. Sadly, only 60 bottles left in their vinoteque
25 Degrees South Distillery from Magaliesberg won the 2019 BARKER & QUIN RUM TROPHY for their Pathfinder Rum. They were showing their gin (?)

Winning wines from La Vierge in the Hemel en Aarde valley. The Nymphomane is a favourite of ours
Groot Constantia's wonderful Grande Constance dessert wine
Groot Constantia Chardonnay 2018. This impressive wine won the Chardonnay Trophy
and the Top Scoring Wine Grand Prix Award – in other words the best wine on show
Co-owner of the Michelangelo awards, Mynard Slabbert, told the story of the Awards in great detail
Lazanou was a pioneer of organic wine farming in South Africa and they were the first certified organic wines
which we sold at Main Ingredient. Still excellent
Mariëtte wines from Stofberg Family Vineyards in Breedekloof
Winning spirits. The Oude Molen brandies from Elgin
How great to see an old friend, Roger Jørgensen. Roger is the person whom we think makes the best gin
and he has mentored many good local gin producers. He does it the correct way
There are some real cowboys out there using smoke and mirrors to produce white spirit they call gin
He now lives in Kenya but still makes gin here
He won the Barker and Quin Trophy for his Procera African Juniper Gin. He uses Juniper Procera (aka the pencil tree) from Kenya
where it is indigenous and the juniper berries come fresh from the tree. The gin is classic and full of juniper and other flavours
He also uses lots of acacia honey which loses its sweetness during the distillation process, but the flavour remains
There are definite umami flavours of salty liquorice. Lynne loved it
The chunky recycled glass bottle is also made locally and makes a lovely reusable water flask when empty 
and his certificate being presented by co-owner of the Michelangelo awards, Mynard Slabbert
Johline Barnardt of van Loveren with the certificate for the Christina Mèthode Cap Classique Brut NV,
a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which won the AFRICAN CELLAR SUPPLIERS MÈTHODE CAP CLASSIQUE TROPHY
A worthy winner

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