Under the Influence of Riesling Festival 2009

The Under the Influence of Riesling Festival has come and gone and a great time was had by all! This is a day in the life of the Under the Influence of Riesling Festival at the Roundhouse, where 300 Guests enjoyed international and local Riesling, food and wine pairings and a picnic on the lawns of the Roundhouse. The morning dawned cool and cloudy, with the slight threat of rain… luckily it held out until 1 minute after the festival finished!

Guests were welcomed by “ridiculously good looking” Lexus Chauffeurs and driven down in style in the GS range of vehicles. David Donde, pictured above, was keen for some back seat action on the day in his GS450.

Many thanks to Dylan and the Lexus team who did an incredible job getting the Guests down to the Roundhouse from Kloof Nek in style and comfort. As head parking attendant, I was pleased to report that the only hiccup I encountered was “cloudy weather” sunburn.

Upon arriving at the Roundhouse Guests were welcomed by a bevy of friendly and fantastic ladies… and our Austrian MC, Ferdinand. With Lexus glass in hand, complimented by a “hands free wine glass neck holder” (there is certainly a better name for that), Guests ambled down to the Under the Influence stand for their first taste of Riesling. The grape that keeps on giving!

No Rob, that is a Spatlese, not a Trocken Riesling.

It really hit home for me whilst doing some light reading after the festival. Hugh Johnson rates Riesling as the peak of evolution when it comes to white grapes. Their electricity and purity are unparalleled and so are their ability to speak of the place from which they are grown. In his Chapter on Riesling he starts off talking about Egon Muller, who coincidentally was pouring Riesling for Guests at his stand at the festival. Jorg Pfuztner did an incredible job of getting the likes of EGON MÜLLER, ERNST LOOSEN, PHILIP WITTMANN, HERMAN DÖNNHOFF, DIRK VAN DER NIEPOORT, WILL BRÜNDLMAYER, WERNER MAYER-NÄKEL,ROBERT WEIL REICHSGRAF VON KESSELSTATT to join the premiere South African Riesling producers.

Making your way from stand to stand you were inundated with beautiful international and South African Rieslings, all paired with canapes prepared by Harald Bresselschmidt of Aubergine, Bertus Basson of Overture, Peter Tempelhof of the Collection Group and PJ Vadas of the Roundhouse.

All of the dishes were designed to pair with the crisp Rieslings. We were witness to this day of preparation 2 weeks before where an extended tasting by the Chefs ended up with a raiding of the superb Raith butchery in the garden centre for “research purposes”. It was well worth it, have a look at some of the food creations here.

After the food and wine pairing exercise Guests literally spilled onto the lawns of the Roundhouse to enjoy a picnic and more incredible Rieslings. Ice buckets were filled with international wines and local greats like Jordan, Paul Cluver, Thelema, Klein Constantia, Hartenberg, Buitenverwachting and Jack and Knox.

Guests had the opportunity to recline and count the 12 Apostles as the Riesling flowed until the lawn was lit in a more romantic fashion.

Sitting on the top of the Roundhouse roof in the late evening was a great vantage point to see the Festival unfold below. South Africa has incredibly beautiful locations, warm weather, top Chefs and incredible wine. On this day the combination came together and we look forward to many more Under the Influence Wine Festivals ahead.