Hey, let's talk about wine!

Wednesday, 2 November, 2016
Brigitte Oosterhuis
What do you have to do when tasting wine and you’re not an experienced taster? I didn’t know, but I have learnt what NOT to do! In the past month I have been to two really different wine events, with varying atmospheres and different types of people. After both events, I came home with very different feelings, both positive, but still different.

Pinotage Day, something I, as a Dutch person had never heard about. A blue grape, Pinotage is special to South Africa, created by crossing Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. Normally I like to do some research before I visit an event. But with wine, I still think it’s something you have to submerge yourself in. So I did! 

Normally a trip to Durbanville, the place where we celebrated Pinotage Day, should be a 45 minute drive. That is, if you have a driver familiar with the area, but we had our lovely colleague Sheryl, who made it a two-hour drive, “sorry guys, don’t tell anybody I took the wrong drive, we will be on time”. Sorry Sheryl… I’ll tell it anyway, but I really liked the tourist trail, so no problem!

One week later I went to Robertson Wine on the River Festival. This was an intended 2-hour drive. In the Netherlands, you’re almost at the other side of the country in 2 hours. Back home you will drive along flat meadows with lots of cows, here you have huge mountains and beautiful hills. These views continue to amaze me.

When we arrived at Pinotage Day in Durbanville, we had to greet various people. I felt a little bit uncertain, because apparently I was sitting with big names in the wine industry. The man sitting next to me tried to start a conversation about wine. “Hi Brigitte, let’s talk about wine, what do you think of this Pinotage 2015?” And there I was, a Dutch, 21-year-old communication student, with almost no wine knowledge. Of course I am learning about wine during my internship at wine.co.za, but I’m a communication student, not a wine expert. More than seeing the colour, categorizing the types and maybe recognizing the taste, I can’t. “Hi sir, yeah I like this one, this Pinotage has a soft taste”. Much more than that I couldn’t say… It’s obvious to me that people give out their knowledge of wine to each other, but what do you do if you don’t have the wine knowledge? Pretend like you do? I tried that, but it backfired. So Brigitte, this was a little learning experience for yourself.

Fortunately I had a second chance to do it all over again at the Robertson Wine on the River Festival. This time I was the real Brigitte, a wine novice, who was keen to learn. I must say it felt a lot more comfortable. The Wine on the River Festival was a total contrast, everyone was enthusiastic and this time, the wineries told me about their wines.
That’s a lot easier I can tell you! It was a day full of wine and delicious food. The sunshine was the cherry on the top.

It is not that I didn’t like the Pinotage day, sure I did. It was interesting to hear the winemakers speak with passion about their Pinotage. It was fun to learn about the history of Pinotage. All this information will help me to become a real wine expert, in maybe 10 to 20 years. Someday I will sit next to someone and say: “Hey, let’s talk about wine” and that will be the real Brigitte. For now I have to fill up my ‘wine information notebook’ and keep tasting, I really don’t mind that at all!

subscribe to news
Wine on the River Festival
Wine on the River Festival

Wine on the River Festival
Wine on the River Festival

Pinotage day
Pinotage day

more news