The food on offer was a disgrace: this was a quiche in
the Jasminium restaurant that looked at least 4 days old. The sandwiches were worse
The selection
of Pinots Noir for tasting at the Hemel and Aarde tasting presented by
Peter Finlayson
Peter explains
the difference of the wines on the Ridge and in the valley in the Hemel and
Aarde
Completely
full seminar
The wines we
tasted: Bouchard Finlayson’s 2010 Galpin
Peak, Hamilton Russell 2010, La Vierge
2010, Domain des Dieux 2010 Josephine; Bouchard Finlayson’s 2011 Galpin Peak,
Creation 2011
Amazing old
wines from some classic producers for a tasting being held by Michael Fridjhon.
Sadly, we were not invited to this tasting. We did See Michael doing the pre
tasting check on the bottle and he said they were all amazing. Only one bottle
was corked. We do have one or two of
these in our cellar so there is an incentive to open them now.
Michael Fridjhon taking a photograph of the wine box wall,
watched by an amused Simon Back
The attractive Constantia stand
Andrew Gunn wearing his Gunn tartan on his Iona stand
Benny Howard leads us amusingly into the wonderful Pinotage seminar
The 8 Pinotages we tasted
The panel discusses the wines and tells us the history of the grape
Jovial Beyers Truter with his Pinotage
Dave Hughes in his Pinotage Association shirt
The panel: Benny Howard, Dave Hughes, Beyers Truter, Abrie Beeslaar, Duimpie Bailey and Niel Groenewald
The wines we tasted were (in order): Lanzerac 1964; Zonnebloem 1975; Kanonkop 1999; Spier Private Collection 2004; Rijk’s 2004; Stellenzicht’s Golden Triangle 2005; Kaapzicht’s Steytler 2006; and Beyerskloof’s 2009 Diesel (Beyers’ beloved dog) – he says he cried for 3 weeks when Diesel died
Behind the scenes – backup stock of wines for tasting
Ina Smith of the Chenin Blanc Association and colleague with Niels Verburg of Luddite
Rows and rows of exhibitors
Tasting and selling
Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen and a potential buyer
The Distell stand and a bored observer
Going green – biodiversity and sustainability
The Graham Beck crew, marketer Arnold Vorster between cellarmasters Erica Obermeyer, and Pieter "Bubbles" Ferreira
In the Swartland corner, it was exciting and very busy, especially with Adi Badenhorst there to make things happen
Pieter Ferreira preparing for a tasting of Robertson chardonnays
The art of elegant expectoration – Pieter Ferreira shows how
Mr Ferreira presents…
Six superb chardonnays: Graham Beck Blanc de blanc 2008, DeWetshof Limestone Hill 2012, Graham Beck 2010, Springfield Wild Yeast 2009, DeWetshof Bateleur 2009, Springfield Methode Ancienne 2009
Schalk Burger senior, Welbedacht owner, very serious about his excellent wine
Painted Wolf, Jeremy Borg and interested parties
Architect, winery designer and Kleinood owner, Gerhard de Villiers
Across the passage: Vindaba, selling South African wine tourism – most important
Robertson Wine Valley PR Manager, Elizma Spangenberg-Botha talks about
her fascinating terroir
her fascinating terroir
Photographs © John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2012
