If you didn’t hear any of the hype leading up to the Stellenbosch Wine Festival then you should seriously consider that you are moving in the wrong circles. This festival is the oldest and biggest running country food and wine festival in the Cape, this weekend (28-31st July) being the 10th Annual festival. The festival showcases over 500 wines from the surrounding farms, including sparkling wines, and is incredibly popular – so book tickets early! The Wine Festival has its own gravitational pull, as though it were a compulsory class every student enrolled at Stellenbosch University could be found on the fields of the Paul Roos Centre sampling glass after glass of premier wine.
The most popular by far was the JC le Roux stall, which had a constant horde of eager tasters bustling in front of it, threatening to deplete their stocks. A new addition to the festival this year was the MCC lounge which featured the most elite selection of bubbly; where one tasting coupon would get you a taste of wine, four would get you a lick of this delicacy and it would be well worth it. If you are a wine fundi you would consider yourself in your element with over 500 wines to choose from and all without much travel. There was some food being showcased – sushi, cured meats, and chocolates – however the Spur temporary tent had a snaking line of 200 meters.
Thankfully the festival planners put a limit on the amount of tickets sold; after being open for about two hours the festival grounds were already crowded and difficult to move through and the centre itself a noisy, bustling mass, making queuing and tasting itself a bit of an arduous task. However, if these big crowds aren’t for you Sunday is considered the Family Day which I would imagine would be quieter – the masses will be recovering from Saturday.
For more info visit http://www.stellenboschwinefestival.co.za/ , the Stellenbosch Wine Festival 2012 is booked for the 2-5th August 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment