Over three tours during Spring 2017, we enjoyed wonderful hospitality, a lot of laughter, the abundance and flavour of Sicilian food, and best of all discovered the range and quality of Sicilian wine. The tours commenced on Wednesday afternoon. Those of us meeting at Palermo airport boarded our coach, met our driver David, and were…(Read More)
Our final day on tour took us back to where we started in 2008, Stellenbosch. Our two visits provided a fantastic summary of the contrasting ways winemaking has developed in South Africa, and both delivered great wine. At Le Riche Wines we met Yvonne Le Riche, a Cape Wine Master, and daughter of Etienne, the…(Read More)
Another drive through the Franschhoek Pass, this time turning left at the end and heading towards Hermanus. Our day in the Hemel-en-Aarde area started at Restless River, where we met Craig and Anne Wessels. In a very ‘Grand Designs’ adventure they designed and built a beautiful homestead amid some vineyards already planted with…(Read More)
Tuesday provided a masterclass in winemaking, wine history, wine families and the breadth and quality of some of the Western Cape’s newer wine growing regions. Our first visit was to Paul Cluver Wines in Elgin. This involved driving west and then south through the Franschhoek Pass, our driver Henry did a great job negotiating…(Read More)
Fliss, Tim’s wife, is writing this week’s blog, what a ‘perk’ of the job! For the majority of week 1’s group, there was just a day to recover and reset, and make the transfer from Stellenbosch to Franschhoek. A slightly different arrangement for accommodation, we are installed in a variety of guesthouses…(Read More)
We spread ourselves among a smaller coach and a people carrier for our final trip, so we could take the rougher roads up to the vineyards. An hour or so’s drive through the glorious countryside took us to Acqui Terme and then Strevi, where Marenco have their winery in the centre of the small…(Read More)
Our Barolo visit was to GD Vajra. Miriam was our guide, and she did a lovely job of telling us the story of the winery, assisted by Milena, wife of founder Aldo, and son Guiseppe, both of whom were in the thick of harvest (“in the kitchen rather than the dining room”). Aldo was born…(Read More)
A short climb into the hills above Alba and we were in Barbaresco. From a view point above a natural amphitheatre of vine covered slopes Tim explained that the DOC classification is restricted not only to vineyards in the Barbaresco region but more specifically those with a south facing aspect. At Bruno Rocca, one of…(Read More)
After lunch on Thursday we headed up into the Monferrato Hills to Fortetto della Luja, and the hugely entertaining Giovanni Scaglione. Giovanni missed his vocation, his career path of agricultural engineer, consultant and part time wine maker has left the entertainment world the poorer. However, we were able to enjoy his passionate and energetic…(Read More)
How lovely to awaken to the aromas of chocolate. Our hotel is next door to the Ferrero factory, which starts producing in the early hours of the morning. An early start, and a half hour drive to the village of Canale, home of Marco Porello wines, where we collected Ezio Porello and drove up into…(Read More)