Get ready to charge your wine glasses …
THERE will be a feast of flavours to appeal to new and experienced wine drinkers at this year’s Mercury Wine Week.
It takes place this year at Greyville Racecourse from August 24 to 26, with more than 50 exhibitors on show to bring patrons a touch of the Cape – from the new season sauvignon blancs to the complexity of shiraz and the joy of bubbles.
Interspersed with wine will be the food exhibitors offering olives, cheeses and other tapas, but some hints for sounding intelligent with the winemakers always comes in handy.
Franschhoek winery Grande Provence has released its first amphora wine, an unusually aromatic and elegant chenin blanc fermented and matured in the egg-shaped Tuscan clay amphorae that captures more than 6 000 years of winemaking history.
Grande Provence Amphora 2015 embraces technology developed over thousands of years. Predominantly chenin with a touch of Muscat de Frontignan, this wine is a complete departure from what anyone expects from a white wine.
Newly appointed general manager and winemaker Matthew van Heerden says the outcome is balanced tannins, deep colour and unusual aroma, so something to ask about during this year’s show.
So is the second vintage of the flagship white TGP White 2014, formidably blended from chenin and viognier.
Another wine worth tracking down is the Krone Night Nectar Demi-Sec Rosé 2015, a charming counterpart to the Krone Night Nectar Demi-Sec launched in 2014. Delivering a rosé blush and aromas of strawberries and cranberries, it will be a welcome addition to any cellar.
Among the reds is the offering from a relative newcomer to the Mercury Wine Week, Painted Wolf Wines. The Peloton Rouge 2012 won a Veritas bronze last year and a double silver at the National Wine Challenge this year, and while the newer vintage has not yet been judged, the winery is confident it will be “just as popular”.
Lastly, do not leave this year’s show without making a contribution to saving the rhinos. Mt Vernon’s Rhino Tears range has raised more than R800 000 to fight rhino poaching as a percentage of every bottle sold is donated to the South African National Parks (SANParks) Honorary Rangers Conservation Services Unit.
After spending time with the field rangers in Kruger National Park, Mt Vernon MD John Hooper, Rangers chairman John Turner and The Hat & Creek restaurants owner Andre Nel devised a plan to raise funds for the war against rhino poaching.
The answer was a red blend made from shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and pinotage; a fruit-driven chenin suitable for every occasion and a sweet rosé as a blend of all the varietals.
Tickets cost R120 a person if bought in advance through iTickets or R140 at the door. Show times are 5.30pm to 8.30pm Wednesday to Friday. Access to the venue is off Avondale Road.