Wine lovers face delicious dilemmas
FESTIVALS AND SHOWS GALORE
FOODIES and wine lovers would be excused if they have been like mice in a cheese factory these days.
There has been an avalanche of food, wine, beer and whisky festivals in the past two months. And more are still to come.
It is rather staggering that more of these lifestyle events will be springing up in the next four weeks – just before the big festive season hype sweeps over with its own whirlwind of high-spirited revelry.
Last Wednesday, Joburg hosted t wo major wine-tasting shows – the one-day Veritas and the three-day RMB Winex. More than 100 awardwinning wines were available for tasting at the Veritas event, while Winex heaved with hundreds of wine lovers over the three days of the show.
With super quality wines on offer for tasting at both events, logic dictated opting for the oneday tasting of Veritas-winning wines on Wednesday and returning either on Thursday or Friday to attend Winex, that is what many wine lovers did, including yours truly, and found the wisdom of doing so priceless.
On Thursday, Soweto made history by hosting the inaugural FNB Whisky Live Festival at the University of Johannesburg campus. The event was packed with a list of international brands lush enough to make a whisky connoisseur drool.
Tasting 12-, 18- and 25-year-old vintages of Bunnahabhain (pronounced Bunnavain) at the show, one got to appreciate the nuances of character wrought on the malt spirit by time while being aged in the casks. Like in human beings, the different bouquets and flavours were as remarkable as they were unmistakable.
The 12-year-old oozed robustness in taste and had the petulance of youth.
In contrast, the 18-year-old had less fumes on the nose; had poise and balance, while its palate brimmed with nutty flavours.
The 25-year-old vintage rewarded the patience of its makers with an ultra-soft, elegant palate and grace reminiscent of an old timer who has mellowed down with age. Enjoyed with water, the whisky imparted a subtle fragrance to the nose which made a contemplative pause before the sip simply because an expendable luxury.
While the three-day event did not draw the anticipated hundreds of whisky-quaffing Sowetans, this can hardly be interpreted as an ominous sign. The inaugural event of the Soweto Wine Festival was also low key in contrast with the attendance figures of more than 8 000 visitors in its ninth year this year.
So the message to the whisky festival organisers is that an ambitious journey of 2 000km begins with one small step.
The whisky festival moves to Sandton from next week Wednesday to Friday.
Durbanites should also relish their turn to work up the big froth this weekend – courtesy of the Craft Republic Craft Beer Festival – after Sowetans did the same during the recent Soweto Beer Festival. The Durban craft beer festival takes place at Chris Saunders Park in Umhlanga on Saturday.
There will be
more and more events