Music, food and wine fest

Fancy some champagne, live music and food from among the finest eateries in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands?

Then head to the inaugural Meander Fine Wines Champagne and Bubbly Festival on Piggly Wiggly Farm in Lions River on April 30.

Following the huge success of last year’s Diemersfontein Pinotage on Tap Festival, Meander Fine Wines has joined forces with Hartford House, Granny Mouse, La Lampara and The Corner Post, as well as a host of the country’s premier wineries and bubbly producers, for a day of eating, drinking and being merry.

Cabriere Estate will perform sabrage – ceremoniously slicing off the top of a champagne bottle with a sabre – while in attendance will be the winemakers from Cederberg, Colmant, De Grendel, De Wetshof, Pierre Jordaan, Klein Constantia, La Motte, Saronsberg, Steenberg, Simonsig, Ross Gower, Groote Post, Muratie, Dieu Donné, Darling Cellars, Quoin Rock, Weltevrede, Goeverwacht, Graham Beck, Môreson, Morgenhof and Villiera.

Pommery and Billecart-Salmon champagne houses will add that final touch of elegance and sophistication with tastings of the wine-making technique so famously perfected by the Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon, more than 350 years ago.

According to organiser Trevor Gower, it is an opportunity to experience the finer offerings from the Midlands; spend a day – or the whole weekend – in the country and pose the questions to the winemakers that have puzzled or amused your wine-drinking evenings.

The R200 ticket price includes a champagne glass, book of meal and wine-tasting vouchers and hours of live music in a relaxed atmosphere. The doors open at noon and the festival ends at 6pm.

Talking champagnes and other bubbles, a rummage through Gower’s shelves last week unearthed a gem – another exclusively bubbly-producing winery in Franschhoek. Morena MCC is a boutique cellar producing methode cap classiques in the traditional style, with the family run business focusing on quality wines sold directly to the consumer.

Favourite MCC and champagne importer Colmant opened its doors several years ago as the first South African winery to exclusively produce sparkling. Unlike Champagne in France, South Africa did not previously have wineries that only produced bubbles, rather having an array of farms where bubbles was one of the options.

Hence, it is welcoming to have a second player producing this style of wine and importing lesser-known champagnes to the South African market. News on the wines themselves will be forthcoming, undoubtedly.

Staying with bubblies, JC Le Roux has launched a youthful MCC Brut (retail price: R68) composed primarily from pinot noir, with a small component of chardonnay. It is mooted as the ideal partner for fish, seafood, pasta and chicken dishes – or sushi, so well worth seeking out in your local bottle stores. - The Mercury