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Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Review of The Mercury Wine Week


The Mercury Wine Week



What an eventful and beautiful evening spent at the Mercury Wine Week 2015. As a newbie to the wine world, there was much learning and tasting to be done.

On the tip of learning one had never realized just how big the wine industry is in South Africa with a really large following too. I had the pleasure of first tasting the Checkers South Africa Rosé selection, with the help of their team I first got to understand the difference between rosé, dry wine and sweet wine. For which I didn’t think at first there would be a difference, but soon it became clear that it rested with your pallet much like cheese flavours. That was provided by Lancewood which made it all the more enjoyable.

Pacing myself through the Suncoast Durban venue filled to capacity you could feel the ambience of leisure and the goodness that grapes can make the heart feel. People negotiated business deals, chatted about parenting and most importantly their favourites from the wide selections of wines to taste. I was particularly drawn to the Spier Wine Chenin Rosé collection, made with a collection of sub-tropical fruits you could smell the mango and pineapple in the glass, as it hit your lips it was elegant to your taste buds.  Another wine that was really enjoyable for me was the Big Easy Rosé collection from South Africa’s second most loved golfer Ernie Els, which goes really well with your pasta and fish dishes. A plus with all these ranges is that since they are light to the taste you could get away with having a glass over lunch, during a working day.


The general advice I heard from the winemakers gathered at the Wine Week, was that if you are a first time wine taster or would like to develop a love for wine.  Start with tasting sweet wine it offers a sweet tasted instead of the general bitter taste. You are then able to graduate to the Rosé section of the beverages menu and ultimately develop your pallet for red or white wine. Here’s a toast to another successful Mercury Wine Week. 

Review by Amanda O Mathe
Twitter @Onapower

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