Wine Diva

With every intention to live blog from the Stellenbosch Wine Festival, I arrived there on Saturday afternoon to find a very lively and packed event underway. It was busier than Winex in Sandton on a Friday night and I had fears of me and my laptop being in the way of all the herds of well marinated wine lovers and their red wine overflow. Especially since my laptop needs a power cord, I decided that live blogging could become a health and safety issue.

So I did what any wine diva would do at a wine festival, I left my techno-geek personality in the car and I grabbed my tasting glass and went with the flow. The popular annual festival almost seems to have outgrown its venue but I am not sure what it is usually like, as this was my first year. I did a proper recky trip to the Festival on Thursday night with a friend to get a sneak preview before my blog date. I am glad that I went on Thursday because I was able to taste the delicious food serving that were circulating the wine halls by way of smartly dressed waiters. My friend Karen and I worked the room twice, our first circuit was for white wines and our second circuit for red wines. I had a chance to speak to quite a number of gifted winemakers, who are capable of seducing simple grapes into exquisite tapestries of love and passion called wine. It was a treat to share some wine stories with them.

The festival offered all sorts of epicurean entertainment for the visitors such as food and wine pairings, demo kitchens, wine information sessions, the Checkers Taste Theatre offering Fashion, food and wine fusion, fine art displays, historic guided tours through Stellenbosch. There was even a Mountain Bike Challenge for biking enthusiasts on Saturday morning. Much more than just wine tasting event, showcasing all that the Stellenbosch winelands has to offer – next year I’ll be more prepared. I will block off that weekend to get there early and find a nice spot to blog from and invest in a new laptop battery.

On Thursday night I bumped into so many people that I knew. I felt like I was out and about in my hometown. I realised that I have made lots of friends in the short time that I have been here and I have to question whether the Cape people are as clicky as they’ll have us believe they are.