Friday 12th July 2013

Michael was out of town for most of the day and then had to rush to a Kaya Fm interview in the afternoon and from there, attend a whisky tasting.

We got together with the Media Shop and United Stations, did a presentation on Wine Wizard and then sampled some wines. The lesson at the end of the day was to not trust the bottle by its label.

All wines were served blind, with the bottles being in a black sleeve.

The Lemberg, a 27 year old Sauvignon Blanc had totally changed its character over the years. Everyone picked up the honeyed notes but no one really enjoyed it.

The Meerlust 1975 Cabernet Sauvignon still had some "Cabernet" flavour to it but was a bit sour on the finish. There was lots of debate around this one

The Vergenoegd 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon was really impressive after all these years.

Thanks to the teams for their involvement

What this is about

Just some observations from the tasting room of the top wine judge in the country, Michael Fridjhon.

Everyday is a learning curve, second to none. From opening bubblies to decanting old wine, to finding out which wrong clone of Merlot we as a nation, are planting in the wrong areas.

Michael judges every wine blind and gives each one a fair chance. It really is up to the producer to produce the goods.