One of our preferred things to do at a large wine Expo like Cape Wine or Vinexpo is to attend seminars. Just walking around talking to people on stands is useful and sometimes informative, but can be exhausting. And you always learn something at these seminars. There was a good programme of them at this year's Cape Wine and we managed to attend a couple
AMORIM SPEAKER’S CORNER
PROGRAMME
Sessions in this area were 30
minutes long and could be attended on a first come, first served basis
WEDNESDAY 12 SEPTEMBER
12:00-12:30 ‘Test your
knowledge’ blind tasting pitting SA against others
14:00-14:30 W.O. Cape Town
15:30-16:00 Focusing on
Bio-dynamic and Organic wine farming in South Africa
THURSDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
11:00-11:30 Cape Site Specific
Wines
12:30-13:00 Taking a look at
Cinsault
14:00-14:30 "Qui si parla
anche l’Italiano" - Here we also speak some Italian.
15:30-16:00 New/unusual
varietals
FRIDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
11:00-11:30 The colour of wine
– How our industry is changing
14:00-14:30 ‘Finding the sweet
spot’ – Celebrating the history of SA sweet/fortifieds
15:30-16:00 Amorim MCC
showcase
This was the first one we
attended/ The Cape Town Wines appellation demarcation had come into effect on
the 26th of May in 2017 but many of us had not really understood the motivation
for this. We now see that it is a very good marketing tool when selling wines
overseas. This is the new modern and innovative logo, pulling the two closest but
quite disparate wine areas together as wines being "In the shadow of Table
Mountain". This iconic and classic symbol of Cape Town is internationally
recognised and now reflects our dynamic and beautiful city in a modern and
contemporary way
The seminar topic was presented
by Bennie Howard, CWM, Marketing manager of Meerendal, who was one of the
original motivators, along with Albert Gerber of Durbanville Hills and Bernhard
Veller of Nitída. They pulled in the Constantia, Durbanville and Cape Town
wineries and got their demarcation accredited after a lot of hard work,
persuasion and paperwork
We tasted the wines
while we listened and watched the slide show
This makes one already
recognised iconic brand, Cape Town, known globally and seen as a top
international tourist destination, into a Wine of Origin district, rather than working with the difficulty of marketing separate and relatively unknown areas. Geographic
Origin is the common characteristic of the areas
The Amorim Speakers Corner
Seminar area
To quote Joaquim Sá of Amorim Cork, it is good to give back something to the wine industry
To quote Joaquim Sá of Amorim Cork, it is good to give back something to the wine industry
Some of the motivation was
based on consumer studies from RSA, China, USA and the UK
as to who the target market of visitors, locals and wine purchasers would be
as to who the target market of visitors, locals and wine purchasers would be
Many people attending the
seminars were overseas buyers and trade
The area is within
easy reach of locals and visitors, especially those with a short time here. And
using the new encompassing local identity will aid marketing when at wine shows
overseas. The areas will still have their own unique identities, but by grouping
them they have been given marketing strength
These were the wines we tasted
and they gave a good impression
of the variety and quality that the area can produce
of the variety and quality that the area can produce
The second seminar we attended
was on Day Two of Cape Wine. Titled: Taking a look at Cinsault. Francois
Bezuidenhout CWM started it off. We have been impressed with how this grape is
being used now, often as a single varietal rather than a blending grape, as it
was in the past. Often, the vines are very old and mature and they are producing
wines that are soft with light, sweet fruit, gentle tannins and with lighter colour. Some can even be mistaken for gentle Pinot Noirs. People are asking if this was the grape that has managed to keep some of our older red wines so lively? It was a significant component of red blends in earlier times
Another busy seminar
The wines we tasted. It was
quite an interesting selection; some of these were quite tough and closed, with acidity and strong tannins present, more in the Bordeaux style than the Rhône, where this grape does so well. They obviously need lots more time and some do
not have quite the character of the gentle Cinsaults that we are beginning to
love. Others in the group are heading in that direction
There are some really good
labels
This is Nieuwe Haarlem from the Cape Wine Company, who buy in their grapes
from the Piekenierskloof. It reminded us of an Italian Nebbiolo
This is Nieuwe Haarlem from the Cape Wine Company, who buy in their grapes
from the Piekenierskloof. It reminded us of an Italian Nebbiolo
Kaapzicht's Skuinsberg Bush Vine
Cinsaut from Bottelary has sweet fruit
on the nose and quite dark, sour, sweet fruit on the palate
on the nose and quite dark, sour, sweet fruit on the palate
Twyfeling 2016 Bush Vine from
Bosman in Wellington. This is from their experimental range.
Darker cherry berry fruit with some nougat, nuts and vanilla; very appealing
Sweet fruit with sour sweet cherries and long flavours. Needs time
Darker cherry berry fruit with some nougat, nuts and vanilla; very appealing
Sweet fruit with sour sweet cherries and long flavours. Needs time
Eenzaamheid (Unity) 2017 is from
Paarl. They use very old barrels
for 3 months maturation and add some tartaric acid. Good fruit on the nose,
red berries and cassis with sweet and sour fruit; chalky, chewy tannins
for 3 months maturation and add some tartaric acid. Good fruit on the nose,
red berries and cassis with sweet and sour fruit; chalky, chewy tannins
The wine made by the Elsenberg
Wine College students was very good on the nose, with those rose petals that
make it resemble good Pinot Noir but, on the palate, rather grippy tannins and
some sour cherry berries
The Old Vines Cinsault made by
Ian Naudé. Perfumed with roses, it is a bit lactic, tight on the palate with
grippy tannins, and lots of fruit acidity. Needs time
Zakkie Bester, a well-known wine personality who, as proud Swartlander, can trace his roots back to his ancestor Andreas Bester who settled in Malmesbury in the 1700s. Zakkie and his wife Sandra live in Riebeek Kasteel
Carel Nel CWM from Boplaas in Calitzdorp
Jano Briers Louw
Ian Naude
This was a queue for another
seminar which unfortunately clashed with what we were doing that afternoon
This
was the programme
THURSDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
10:30-11:30 Theme: Old Vines
14:00-15:00 Theme: The
Ageability of SA White Wines
FRIDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
10:30-11:30 Theme: Climate
Change
14:00-15:00 Theme: Young Guns –
Reloaded
And then there was a chance to
test our palates along with other members of the wine industry, such as wine
makers, buyers, sommeliers, media and even Wine Masters and try to win a week in Burgundy by booking a place on the Piwosa Flight Club. Piwosa stands for
Premium Independent Wineries of South Africa
Lynne "Checking In"
at the first flight. It was a mad, very fast tasting. Five flights of wine to
taste in five minutes per varietal, One minute per wine - the object being to
recognise the French wine in the group on each table, as distinct from the other four wines which were South
African. We had to start at the Shiraz table, as the tables were staggered
and we found that tasting red wines - some of which were quite harsh and tannic,
really stripped our palates, so the whites which followed were a bit difficult
The flight categories were Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir Shiraz, and
Bordeaux Blends. Then, if you still had the stamina, you could join the Mile High
Club and have the chance to win another week in Bordeaux. All you had to do was
taste 6 wines and name the varietals or blends. They made it very difficult, of
course. These wines were later revealed as
Wine 1 - Sauvignon Blanc
Wine 2 - Roussanne
Wine 3 - Cabernet Franc
Wine 4 - Cabernet Sauvignon,
Shiraz, Malbec, Petit Verdot
Wine 5 - Barbera
Wine 6 - Syrah, Carignan,
Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre, Viognier
Sadly, in Cape Town, there were
no prizes won, although some excellent tasters did come very close. Apparently
so far, internationally, only one person has succeeded and that was a sommelier
from Malaysia. We can understand why!
The wines were served by these
helpful stewardesses. We are proud to say that we did recognise some, but not enough
to come close
The Friday Seminars
An area we really liked was
this tasting area on the side of the main exhibition. The wines had been chosen
specifically and you could taste them at will. The wine categories were changed
at mid-day.. So if you wanted to know which stand to visit you could taste say,
the Pinots and or Chardonnays and then head off to find the farms that made
them
EXPLORE SOUTH AFRICA THEME
TASTING AREA
This free-pour wine tasting
area would allow you to explore a wide range of themes, varieties and regions
highlighting top quality wines, across 18 specified areas. A total of 240 wines
will be poured in this tasting area housed within the exhibition hall. Taste
and compare in one visit, without interruption. Expert sommeliers from the
Black Cellar Club (BLACC) will be on hand to assist you and answer your
questions. There were two set time slots – one each in the morning and
afternoon, as indicated
10:00 - 13:00 DAILY -VARIETALS
Chenin Blanc
Pinotage
Sauvignon Blanc
Cabernet Sauvignon
Chardonnay
Shiraz
Pinot Noir
Merlot
Cabernet Franc
Cinsault
Semillon
Viognier
14:00 - 17:00 DAILY THEMES
Cape Blends
Rosé
Unusual varietals / New
varietals
Sweeties / Fortifieds
Award-winning reds
Award-winning whites
lose
There was also a help yourself
table for the bubblies and it was very popular. We applaud WOSA for coming up
with this clever idea of introducing wines to people who perhaps were not
familiar with South African wines and the variety and quality
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
