ON Saturday 26 May, Dave and Tokkie Vorster attended a master class in wine blending, presented by De Wet Viljoen, winemaker at Neethlingshof Winery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event took place at Octofin in Bourke Street, Graaff-Reinet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were also other master classes in brandy, beer in a nutshell as well as craft beer and gin in depth presented by experts during the Stoep Tasting Wine Weekend at different locations in Graaff-Reinet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only 20 people could attend each class so Dave and Tokkie, from Middelburg, were honoured to be at the wine blending class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After De Wet first poured a bit of the Neethlingshof Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend to the attendees, he introduced himself and followed with the words, \u201cThe art of wine-making is in blending different percentages of the components together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe final blend should have a better taste than the original wines used to prepare the blend.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained the difference between the cultivars, why the colour of the wine and the aromatics is important as well as the impact of the wood where the wine was stored or matured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The class were then separated into six groups. Each group had a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot that they could use to prepare their own blend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only rule was that they may not add less than 10% of a cultivar to the blend and in the end the blend should add up to 100%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The atmosphere in the room was warm and friendly while each group measured, poured and tasted while blending the different cultivars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tokkie and Dave tasted the cabernet sauvignon and decided it had a beautiful bouquet, fruitiness and fullness on the palate. So they decided to use it as their base for their blend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They used 50% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot (because it is a lighter easy drinking wine) and 20% shiraz due to its more heavy spiced flavour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They tried five other blends as well, but decided that their first blend still tasted the best! And with this blend, Tokkie and Dave became the \u201cMaster Wine Blenders at the Stoep Tasting Wine Weekend\u201d! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neethlingshof will prepare them six bottles of their blend and send it to them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ON Saturday 26 May, Dave and Tokkie Vorster attended a master class in wine blending, presented by De Wet Viljoen, winemaker at Neethlingshof 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