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Easter bunny set make an appearance at The Stables
Wine Estate's Grape Crushing festival
Nottingham Road – A centuries–old
winemaking tradition returns to the KwaZulu-Natal midlands this long weekend
when The Stables Wine Estate hosts the harvest-season ending Grape Crushing
Festival on Saturday.
The festival, which takes place at the estate outside Nottingham Road,
offers an opportunity for enthusiasts to stomp their own batch of grapes to
produce grape juice from which wine can be made.
“We have enjoyed a superb summer, in terms of weather for the ripening of
our grapes,” said winemaker Judy Van Niekerk. “The Grape Crushing Festival
is an opportunity to celebrate what promises to be a great year for the KZN
wine industry with our friends and their families.”
The festival will include an Easter egg hunt for the children, who can also
take advantage of a supervised children’s play area, while their parents
enjoy a glass of wine. Numerous local crafters and produce outlets will also
be displaying and selling their wares on the day.
The origins of the harvest-ending stomp dates back centuries, to the days
when French winemakers would hold the crushing festival as a celebration of
the end of the harvest, as a “thank you” to their local community for their
involvement.
The festivities include a series of competitions to see who can produce the
most juice from their 20kg allocation of grapes. Size and weight are
apparently not critical to the outcome, as one of last year’s winners was a
young girl who outstomped dozens of adults.
Last year’s Grape Crushing Festival attracted an unexpectedly large crowd,
as families took advantage of the novel opportunity to stomp grapes in the
unique environment of the estate vineyards.
KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for agriculture Mtholephi Mthimkulu also joined in the
activity, and rolled up his trousers to get involved with the grape
stomping.
Entry to the grape crushing competition costs R60, and each entrant will
receive a commemorative t-shirt. All enquires can be directed to The Stables
Wine Estate on 033 266 6781. The Grape Crush starts at The Stables Wine
Estate at 11 am on Saturday, with regular competitions until 5pm.
For more information please contact
Judy on 033 266 6781 or by email on
info@stableswine.co.za
ENDS
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