Wine Diva

“Pardon me sir, are you done with that?” I asked the guy sitting across the table from me at a wedding reception, which I recently attended in Johannesburg. He was hoarding the bottle of Verve Cliquot, which had been passed around and ended up staying firmly in his clutches. With only one bottle allocated to each table for toasting purposes during the run of speeches from the usual suspects, I was determined to get my lips on a few more drops. As I was trying to coax the bottle of good stuff away from the Cliquot squirrel, I was also trying to do the maths to estimate how much it must have cost the generous drinks patron for the Champagne and corkage, in addition to the open bar tab. I speculated that most of the guests would not remember, or fail to appreciate the few extravagant mouthfuls of bubbly, and I had to wonder if the indulgence of French Champagne is really worth it for large scale celebrations, such as weddings.

Can you afford Vintage Champagne and Vera Wang?
There are some things that a bride just cannot do without on her wedding day, vintage Champagne in large quantities is probably not one of them. Of course, if you are keeping up with the Oppenheimers and have a Rolls Royce parked in the garage, then by all means. Vintage Champagne is still the world’s number one party trick, and the obvious choice for intimate special occasions, such as romantic anniversary dinners for two, and of course to quench the hot honeymoon nights. But on a wedding budget with a few hundred drinkers to satiate, and many other expenses to consider, then may I offer you a hand in shelving the fantasy of your guests clinking flutes of Dom Perignon, while admiring your Vera Wang wedding gown, and go for something more economical.

No need for headaches on the wedding night
On the other hand, this is your wedding day and cause for celebration. Therefore, it is best to stay away from the cheap and cheerful sparkling wines that have been carbonated by means of cylinders pumping carbon dioxide into tanks of wine. These inexpensive spumantes have large bubbles, aggressive effervescence like fizzy cool drinks, and are usually distastefully sweet or nastily acidic. Probably not the way to cheers your blessed union.

Made just like Champagne
So to keep things in elegant moderation, I would suggest going for any number of excellent South African sparkling wines produced in the Methode Cap Classique (MCC). Methode Cap Classique is the South African term for “made just like Champagne” and can ooze characteristics of the real French deal. Quality can vary from cellar to cellar, but the amount of effort that it takes to produce a MCC sparkling wine is usually a guarantee in itself. A quality MCC sparkler is blended from premium grapes of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and to a lesser extent, Pinot Meunier varieties, as with Champagne, and can be zesty and crisp with baked bread, biscuit, creamy and nutty flavours. The tiny and continual bubbles appear weaved into the very essence of the cava, and are seamlessly one with the wine, and therefore should never give the impression of being wine plus gas, such as the cheaper carbonated bubblies described earlier.

Popular MCCs retailing for around R60 per bottle and well-rated by the Platters guide are Pongracz, Villeria Traditional Brut, Pierre Jourdan Brut, Graham Beck Brut, Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel and Krone Borealis from Twee Jonge Gezellen.

So when planning your wedding, sit down with the person taking care of the drinks tab and decide how much you are able to spend on sparkling wine, and how many bottles you’ll need. Probably budget on about I or 2 bottles of Methode Cap Classique wines per table.

It makes no sense to me to blow the budget on French champagne when there are  so many good and affordable South African MCCs available to accompany your “I do’s”.

On the 16th of August 2008 from 11am to 9pm, Paarl Vintners hosts the Persia to Paarl Wine Festival at Nederburg, where you are invited to discover the flavours and zest of Persia and Paarl weaved together like thousand colourful yarns in an Oriental mat. The yearly festival celebrates all the best that Paarl has to offer with spicy seasoning thrown in the mix.

In particular you will have the opportunity to taste the Paarl regions premium hand-crafted wines all under one roof. Paarl is well known for producing quality Shiraz wine. Some legends claim that the Shiraz grape or Syrah as the French call it, originates from a city in Persia also called Shiraz and was brought to Rhone in France. The festival assumed its theme from this very legend. Wineries get fancy dressed in colourful costumes and participate in an exciting parade as if they were travellers that had journey all the way from faraway places to end up in Paarl.

It’ll be like stepping into a Persian marketplace bustling with vibrant sights and sounds. There will however be a good mix of proudly Paarl goods including Rugby on the big screen.
It’s a day out that promises indulgences for the whole family including wine tasting and sales, cheese tasting, olives and oils, food demonstrations, traditional eastern and South African food, face painting, kiddies’ entertainment, Persian delicacies and commodities and you can even get your brave on and challenge the Persian Bull.

Tickets can be purchased at participating wineries before the 16th for R55 a ticket or on the day for R65 per ticket. On arrival you will receive a fabulous goodie bag. Kiddies come for free and can be entertained for R20 while you wine, dine and soak up the best of Paarl.

Participating wineries that have tickets on sale at R55 are:
Nederburg, Boland, Backsberg, Fairview, Windmeul, Landskroon, Seidelberg, Glen Carlou, Simonsvlei, Laborie, KWV Emporium, Rhebokskloof, Ridgeback, Domaine Brahms, Under Oaks, African Terroir and Nelsons Creek.

Contact Paarl Vintners for more information on 021 872 0860 or email info@paarlwine.co.za

Bumper attendance and record wine sales in excess of R400 000 herald the 6th Stellenbosch Wine Festival held in South Africa’s wine capital over the weekend, the most successful ever.

Despite heavy downpours on the first two days of the festival, the weekend was everything but a washout with over 12 500 people attending over the four days, the same number as last year.

Wine sales soared by R100 000 over last year’s record of R300 000 with more than 500 wines on offer from 100 wineries, all members of the Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes.

The festival also made a difference this year in terms of raising funds for the Clover Mama Afrika project that assists women to generate income and look after abused, abandoned, orphaned and HIV affected children as well as the elderly in their respective communities. All the proceeds, some R33 000, of the star studded entertainment in the Clover Festival Café was donated to this empowerment initiative.

The festival also took massive strides towards minimising its carbon footprint this year with practically every scrap of waste either turned into compost or collected for recycling with the help of Close the Loop, a local company specialising in organic waste and local entrepreneurs in Kayamandi.

“We are delighted that even the inclement weather could not keep wine lovers away from tasting the wonderful wines from our Stellenbosch producers and that people did not only taste the wines but also purchased wine from our festival shop,” says Annareth Jacobs, chief executive officer of the Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes, and head festival organiser.

The festival which attracted both local, up-country and overseas visitors again this year, managed to reach the full spectrum of wine consumers from the connoisseur to the occasional drinker across all age profiles over the four days of the festival by dedicating different events to different target markets. Wine workshops, a food demonstration kitchen and top notch entertainers ensured plenty of variety to suit all tastes.

“Our Connoisseur Evening on the Thursday created a relaxed environment for the wine enthusiast to interact with the winemakers at the festival, while families with children could enjoy the family oriented activities on the Sunday. Saturday was the most festive with a bumper attendance of over 7 000 people, largely representing the younger wine drinking culture,” said Jacobs.

With the excellent turnover in wine sales, the Stellenbosch Wine Festival has become a successful business venture as well as promoting a wine culture amongst loyal festival visitors who represent a cross section of consumers who are keen to learn more about wine.

“With such encouraging results, we believe we have met the objectives of the festival again this year by placing Stellenbosch firmly under the spotlight as a leading wine region,” said Jacobs.

Wine sales at festival prices are still available until the end of August through the Vineyard Connection website, www.wineshop.co.za, or phone 0860 360 360.