I first met David Clarke a few years ago when I traded him lessons on wine (he is a sommelier, after all) for Afrikaans lessons. He’d just moved to SA – married to an Afrikaans-speaking local and he wanted to improve his local lingo. Packed schedules eventually got the better of us both and we only really had a few lessons, but his incredibly knowledge and honest, down-to-earth love for wine stayed with me. Back to present day, David and his wife Jeannette have started Ex Animo Wine Co. and they’ve been bloody busy since. They had their first trade show in early March and it was packed to the rafters with some of the most exciting and enjoyable wines I’ve encountered in ages.
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Burgundy Lover’s Festival (better late than never)
As someone who attempts to blog about their full-time hobby while holding down a full-time (unrelated) job, I’m the first to admit writing when you’re working 10-12 hour days is pretty tough at times. As a wine lover with the occasional opportunity to attend really exceptional events, I’m stubborn about putting content I care about out there, even if it is a couple of weeks after the fact. The Wine Concepts Burgundy Lover’s Festival is one of those events.
Wine Concepts Burgundy Lover’s Festival
If you love wine (surely everyone reading this does?), and you love the Burgundies, then you’ll love this: Wine Concepts is hosting the fourth annual Burgundy Lover’s Festival. And I can assure you, this year we are all in for a treat. Definitely an event all lovers of fine Pinot Noir and Chardonnay need to take note of.
The Cape Town event will be hosted at the Vineyard Hotel & Spa in Newlands on Friday 13 June 2014, from 17:00 to 20:00. Incogvino has gotten a sneak preview of what’s in store at this year’s popular event.
The festival is all about getting the big names in the business of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in one room and offering tasters some undiscovered gems in between.
Bouchard Finlayson – Fabulous Flighted Tasting
In early April, I was fortunate enough to be invited to a very special tasting of some very special wines. Arriving at Mondiall on a balmy Autumn evening, I had no idea what a treat I was in for.
One of the first wine farms to be established in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley, Bouchard Finlayson has become synonymous with the production of outstanding Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Winemaker Peter Finlayson remembers starting to make wine there before it was the buzzing wine route of today. Mostly dirt roads and largely underdeveloped for viticulture, it became apparent that the area had the ideal soil for vineyards.
Pinot Noir – that unexpected paramour
*This post was originally published on Wine Whiskers – 12 March 2013*
A confession. Until recently, I have never really known Pinot Noir. I knew it as a cultivar. I knew it was quite a light, red wine. I knew it was popular in other parts of the world. Yet I had never truly known it to be popular here. I must have encountered it in tastings over the years, but none so memorable as to stand out or encourage me to pursue this slightly unusual varietal.
I have, I fear, been missing out.