Lock, stock and wine barrel: Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Festival

This week the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Festival highlights two brilliant varietals.

Festivals like these play an important role to nurture wine drinkers that simply face too much information at larger scale festivals.

At this year’s festival, you have access to more than 70 noble varieties at the Killarney Country Club’s Crystal Room on May 10.

The festival includes many high-end, award-winning Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that are not shown at other festivals, either due to price or the scale of production (often only limited numbers are produced).

Interesting exhibitors include Hannes Storm, former winemaker at Hamilton Russell, who started making his own super premium small production wines in Hemelen-Aarde.

He will present three Pinot Noirs from three Hemelen-Aarde regions – Vrede Pinot Noir 2016, Ignis Pinot Noir 2016 and Ridge Pinot Noir 2016.

There is also his Vrede Chardonnay 2017 which, like its Pinot Noir counterpart, stems from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. Hemel-en-Aarde has some renowned labels like Hermanuspietersfontein, Bouchard Finlayson and Creation, producing spectacular wines.

Also attending is winemaker Koen Roose of Spioenkop, the acclaimed and award-winning wine estate in Elgin, who will be presenting the Spioenkop Pinot Noir 2015.

Other highlights include Chardonnay Du Monde Silver Award winner the Rietvallei JMB Chardonnay 2017; the Creation Art of Pinot Noir 2016, which was awarded five stars by John Platter, and the Eikendal Chardonnay 2016 and Hartenberg The Eleanor Chardonnay 2015, both named in the Winemag Chardonnay Report Top 10.

Tickets cost R250 per person and this includes a tasting glass as well as an array of light snacks chosen to complement the styles of wine being sampled.

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