Cobie van Oort tells us why we should plan to attend the 8th Winter Wine Festival | The Month May 2012
With the kind of cold weather we’re sure to experience in May, wine lovers will no doubt begin to turn their thoughts to hearty winter dishes paired with rich wines, to be enjoyed beside a roaring fire. It’s early days yet, but be sure to plan get to the 8th Winter Wine Festival at High Street Shopping Village in Durbanville from the 21st to the 23rd of June.
The festival offers visitors an opportunity to taste a wide range of Ports, brandies, dessert wines, Muscadels, Jerepigos and a selection of red and white wines and a chance to stock up ahead of the coldest part of the year.
Two of the interesting sweeter wines that will be on show at this year’s festival are Perdeberg’s Weisser Riesling - a natural sweet wine which is perfect with cheese or even instead of a dessert, and Solms-Delta’s ‘Gemoedsrus’ which is a complex, fortified Port-like sweet wine that brings to mind brandy-spiked
Christmas cake!
Elize Walters, the PR and Marketing Manager of Propergation Estates, which presents the Festival, says that “for the first time we are including wines from Chile and Italy as well as creating a market atmosphere with our food exhibitors. Visitors are encouraged to relax and linger at the festival; and with the regular wine theatre presentations, live music and food courts, we hope they will!”
With nearly 30 wineries and 20 food stalls pulling out all the stops, there’s every reason to linger and to make the High Street Shopping Village home for a few hours. The Durbanville Round Table have been chosen as the beneficiaries of monies raised via the festival, so you’ll have the added benefit of knowing that you’re there for a good cause.
On-site sales are encouraged and storage will be available from where purchases can easily be transferred to the parking areas.
Ticket prices are R80pp if bought on-line and R90pp at the door. Pensioners’ and groups of more than 10 pay R70pp. Tickets are available at www.ticketbreak.co.za from 1st of May or at the door during the festival. For more information visit www.winterwinefestival.co.za
Perdeberg Weisser Riesling Natural Sweet, R80 per bottle at the cellar
This low alcohol Riesling is a ‘sticky’ to be sure – with almost 133g of residual sugar! It has a beautiful pale yellow colour with immediately evident whiffs of honeycomb and apricot on the nose and perhaps even a little lime. There’s a fresh acidity to the palate that deals adequately with the sugar, but still allows the wine a sweet finish. Try it with rich cheeses, a sweet pudding or simply on its own!
Solms-Delta Gemoedsrus 2010, R220
This 100% Shiraz, fortified with Shiraz husk spirit, was matured for 15 months in mostly new French oak barrels, to retain the primary fruit aromas. It is a dark wine with hints of almonds on the nose and cocoa on the palate. With a little less than 80g of residual sugar it a decent sweet wine for the weight-conscious, but be warned – at 18.5% alcohol it may skip your hips and go straight for your head!
With the kind of cold weather we’re sure to experience in May, wine lovers will no doubt begin to turn their thoughts to hearty winter dishes paired with rich wines, to be enjoyed beside a roaring fire. It’s early days yet, but be sure to plan get to the 8th Winter Wine Festival at High Street Shopping Village in Durbanville from the 21st to the 23rd of June.
The festival offers visitors an opportunity to taste a wide range of Ports, brandies, dessert wines, Muscadels, Jerepigos and a selection of red and white wines and a chance to stock up ahead of the coldest part of the year.
Two of the interesting sweeter wines that will be on show at this year’s festival are Perdeberg’s Weisser Riesling - a natural sweet wine which is perfect with cheese or even instead of a dessert, and Solms-Delta’s ‘Gemoedsrus’ which is a complex, fortified Port-like sweet wine that brings to mind brandy-spiked
Christmas cake!
Elize Walters, the PR and Marketing Manager of Propergation Estates, which presents the Festival, says that “for the first time we are including wines from Chile and Italy as well as creating a market atmosphere with our food exhibitors. Visitors are encouraged to relax and linger at the festival; and with the regular wine theatre presentations, live music and food courts, we hope they will!”
With nearly 30 wineries and 20 food stalls pulling out all the stops, there’s every reason to linger and to make the High Street Shopping Village home for a few hours. The Durbanville Round Table have been chosen as the beneficiaries of monies raised via the festival, so you’ll have the added benefit of knowing that you’re there for a good cause.
On-site sales are encouraged and storage will be available from where purchases can easily be transferred to the parking areas.
Ticket prices are R80pp if bought on-line and R90pp at the door. Pensioners’ and groups of more than 10 pay R70pp. Tickets are available at www.ticketbreak.co.za from 1st of May or at the door during the festival. For more information visit www.winterwinefestival.co.zaPerdeberg Weisser Riesling Natural Sweet, R80 per bottle at the cellar
This low alcohol Riesling is a ‘sticky’ to be sure – with almost 133g of residual sugar! It has a beautiful pale yellow colour with immediately evident whiffs of honeycomb and apricot on the nose and perhaps even a little lime. There’s a fresh acidity to the palate that deals adequately with the sugar, but still allows the wine a sweet finish. Try it with rich cheeses, a sweet pudding or simply on its own!
Solms-Delta Gemoedsrus 2010, R220This 100% Shiraz, fortified with Shiraz husk spirit, was matured for 15 months in mostly new French oak barrels, to retain the primary fruit aromas. It is a dark wine with hints of almonds on the nose and cocoa on the palate. With a little less than 80g of residual sugar it a decent sweet wine for the weight-conscious, but be warned – at 18.5% alcohol it may skip your hips and go straight for your head!
