–> “ Three times! ” they said. “ Only you would go to Taste of Cape Town three times! ” Yes, I admitted on Monday, feeling mildly hungover, but overall like I ’ d had an absolutely bloody marvellous weekend! 
–> I normally go twice every year – and that was the original plan for this year: Friday night for wine tasting and party time, Sunday afternoon for serious food indulgence. I just happened to get invited on Saturday afternoon as well, by a friend who had an extra ticket – I couldn ’ t refuse! And why would I? After attending three days in a row, I still felt that I hadn ’ t tasted everything! It ’ s impossible! But I did try …
My first stop on Friday night was at the Idiom/ Whalehaven wine station. For more info on Idiom, visit http://www.bottegafamilywine.co.za/and for more info on Whalehaven, visit http://www.whalehavenwines.co.za/. It was one of the most informative wine tasting sessions I ’ ve ever had. We spoke at length with the experts at the stands about different varieties, correct ways to wine taste, who the 2014 harvest had gone and so on. And then we wine tasted our way through the imported Italian wines. All the wine helped because it was freezing!

Some of my favourite wines from #TOCT2015
–> Afterward, we continued on our Italian streak and went to a cooking demonstration by Galbani. They prepared a risotto with their Mascarpone cheese and a puff-pastry tart with their Mozzarella. #ShareGalbani. Both of which were delicious. Before we knew it, it was time to rush off to our Ultimate Burger-Making Class and demonstration at the Robertsons ’ tent. This was awesome because we were feeling quite hungry and we got to take home some lovely Robertsons ’ spices too.

–> After venturing off to find more wine we stayed for almost the rest for the evening at the Ernie Els wine stand getting bits and bobs from food places across the way. We drank a lot of their red blend before calling our Uber home. For more information on the Ernie Els range of wines, visit http://www.ernieelswines.com/.

–> Saturday afternoon I introduced my friends to the Idiom wine range again, before we went off in search of ribs, more wine from Wildekrans, tequila-cured trout, more wine from Waverley Hills, then the Sichuan fried calamari …  
And that ’ s how the afternoon proceeded until we realised the venue was closing to prep for the later session and we were asked to kindly leave. I had a live-music concert to go to after all. I think Uber profited a lot from me this weekend. 

 
–> Then came Sunday. Luckily I had the morning to sleep in and recover from my shenanigans over the previous two days. I thought I ’ d skip starting with wine straight away and headed for the BeerHouse beer tent for a Blockhouse IPA. Then to decide what to eat first … I went for the oxtail from Azure first, which was quite rich, so I shared it with a friend and, since Beluga was right next door and I ’ d heard ravings about their calamari, I ordered that next. Both were delicious in their respective ways – one hearty, rich and heavy, the other fresh, light and crispy.


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We went on a mission to find the pop-up restaurant of the day, which was Ernie Els, and I ordered the sweet/sticky pulled-pork wrap, which I tried to keep all to myself, but ended up having to give tasters to my friends.

My favourite dish of the weekend was the duo of Yellowfin tuna by Kitima Restaurant. The tuna tartare with quail ’ s egg and fish crackers is just the type of food you want to eat in morsel size. It ’ s enough to give you the rich umami flavour and excite the taste buds. 

–> Overall it was a fab festival! The vibe was excellent, the toilets were super-clean and the service by all the stands I visited was really great. For more information on the TASTE festivals, visit http://www.tastefestivals.com/

[Author: Amy] [Category: Cape Town, food, taste of cape town, wine, wine tasting]