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Individual modules or module combinations e.g. tasting and dinner, Champagne brunch only etc. are separately priced to accommodate guests whose programmes – or constitutions – do not permit them to indulge the entire weekend!
Bookings for the 2007 Michael Fridjhon WINE Experience open on April 13.
Luxury accommodation is available at the Park Hyatt Johannesburg at special rates for Michael Fridjhon WINE Experience guests.
Brian Croser once famously remarked that quality wine producers are a strange breed. "They seek out the coolest locations to establish vineyards, and then plant their vines on the warmest slopes." This succinct formulation of the paradox of fine wine production describes a singular truth: the great classic wines are almost always produced at the edge – at the limit of where it is possible to bring in optimally ripe fruit, in inhospitable terrain, in places where an almost unreproduceable set of circumstances have contrived to make viticulture possible, and great wine miraculous.
The 2007 Michael Fridjhon WINE Experience is not about a particular place, or even a single cultivar. The programme has been designed to reveal the extraordinary quality of some of the great classic wines – produced “at the edge.” From the super-seconds of St Estephe to the single First Growth of the Graves, from Grand Cru Chablis to the greatest white Grands Crus of the Cote de Beaune, from the most crafted of prestige cuvée Champagne to a 19th century solera Madeira of a truly legendary vintage – the weekend offers a fascinating exposition of the edgiest great wines.
Jean-Guillaume Prats, whose family owned Chateau Cos d’Estournel for several generations, will present an array of great Claret from the outermost limits of the Medoc appellations. At the gala dinner, after the Corton Charlemagne and the Pagodes de Cos, 1985 Cos d'Estournel will accompany the main course and 1971 Rieussec (served from the magnum) the dessert.
James Halliday, one of the world’s great wine authorities, a leading wine writer and a member of the Academie du Vin, will present white Burgundies that include two vintages of Chevalier Montrachet “Les Demoiselles” a decade apart, Criots Batard Montrachet and Chablis Grand Cru as well as the 1860 Sercial Madeira. At the keynote Champagne tasting, Tom Stevenson – the most published authority on the subject in the English language – will lead WINE Experience guests through a selection of the region’s top prestige cuvées – including Krug and La Grande Dame – all produced by pushing place and process “right to the edge”.
Unsurprisingly, a menu as extraordinary as the wine selection has been created for this occasion. Smoked Marlin-wrapped Strawberry & Raspberry Panacotta infused with Trout Eggs, Foie Gras Ice cream on home made Capellini, Crayfish medallions served on a vanilla-flecked bisque tinted with mango cream and basil oil and Magret de Canard glazed with a reduction of Lapsang Souchong tea, Shi'itake Mushrooms and Juniper, accompanied by Haricots Fins and a Saffron potato puree – these are but a few of the courses designed to complement the array of wine.
The Michael Fridjhon WINE Experience, co-hosted by WINE magazine, is the most prestigious food and wine event on the South African calendar and is likely to be substantially over-subscribed. If you are interested in attending, please contact Janice, Alex or Monica on 011 482 5936 or mail winexperience@outsorceress.co.za.
Notwithstanding the 20% devaluation of the Rand since the launch of the 2006 10th Anniversary WINE Experience, the 2007 event will be offered at the same price as last year’s WINE Experience weekend (with a slight increase to the Champagne component).
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