{"id":14522,"date":"2010-11-28T09:49:08","date_gmt":"2010-11-28T07:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=14522"},"modified":"2011-01-23T00:38:41","modified_gmt":"2011-01-22T22:38:41","slug":"bartho-eksteen-puts-hermanuspietersfontein-on-the-diners-club-wine-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/bartho-eksteen-puts-hermanuspietersfontein-on-the-diners-club-wine-map\/","title":{"rendered":"Bartho Eksteen puts Hermanus(pietersfontein) on the Diner’s Club wine map!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of the most refreshing wine marketers in South Africa, and focusing predominantly on traditional marketing media, is Hermanuspietersfontein, a mouthful of a wine brand, and also the original name of the seaside town of Hermanus.\u00a0\u00a0 Now its winemaker Bartho Eksteen has been named the 2010 Diners’ Club Winemaker of the Year, joining such illustrious previous winemakers winning this honour as Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck, Carl Schultz of Hartenberg, G\u00fcnter Br\u00f6zel of Nederburg, Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof, Sydney Back at\u00a0Backsberg and Danie de Wet of Dewetshof.<\/p>\n

Eksteen and his team are proudly-Afrikaans, choosing one of the longest wine brand names in the country(although abbreviated to HPF on\u00a0some labels), in their choice of sub-brand names (Bloos for their Ros\u00e9, Swartskaap, Kleinboet and more),\u00a0and in their advertising.\u00a0 Leading their marketing is Gerrie Heyneke, an advertising veteran of The White House, Y&R Cape Town and DDB South Africa.\u00a0 He is the CEO of grapefuel.co.za.\u00a0\u00a0 The winery is visible as a modern structure when one enters Hermanus, on the left,\u00a0 and has made itself popular as the home to the Saturday morning food and wine market.\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Eksteen himself is a character, much like his wines, and his\u00a0Die Bartho\u00a02008 blend\u00a0was awarded a 5-star 2011 Platter rating<\/span><\/strong> <\/a>\u00a0for the first time last week.\u00a0However, it is the 2009 Hermanuspietersfontein No.5 Sauvignon Blanc that won the Diner’s Club award, the wine produced for the first time exclusively from grapes of its own vineyards.\u00a0\u00a0 His prize is a SAA ticket to any wine-producing country in the world plus expenses. Eksteen was previously a winemaker at Wildekrans in Bot River, winning SA Champion Young Wine in 1996.\u00a0 He launched the Bartho Eksteen label for his Sauvignon Blanc, and five years ago he became a partner in Hermanuspietersfontein Vineyards.<\/p>\n

The Diner’s Club Winemaker of the Year was judged on Sauvignon Blanc submissions this year.\u00a0\u00a0 Chairman of the judging panel, Dave Hughes, said of the six finalist wines submitted: “There was not a single wine amongst them that was not deserving of praise.\u00a0 Where they differed was in style”<\/em>\u00a0.\u00a0 Every one of them was expressive of their location and, taken together, represented virtually the entire taste spectrum that can be produced locally. We tasted the typical cool-area grassy nose and sweet gooseberry fruit; lemons and limes on the nose with a ripe tropical fruit palate and citrus zing; dusty hedges and zippy acidity; exotically oaked with opulent sweet fruit; a tropical fruit salad; and West Coast green peppers, grass and green figs”. \"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

At the awards evening last night, the 2010 Diners’ Club Young Winemaker of the Year was awarded to RJ Botha of Nitida in Durbanville, and went to the winery’s 2009 Calligraphy, a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/p>\n

To celebrate thirty years of the Diner’s Club Winemaker Awards, a commemorative pack of 12 wines made by past winners of the Award, including Rust en Vrede, Graham Beck, Allesverloren, Thelema and Bouchard Finlayson,\u00a0has been made\u00a0available via the Diner’s Club Wine Society.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most refreshing wine marketers in South Africa, and focusing predominantly on traditional marketing media, is Hermanuspietersfontein, a mouthful of a wine brand, and also the original name of the seaside town of Hermanus.\u00a0\u00a0 Now its winemaker Bartho Eksteen has been named the 2010 Diners’ Club Winemaker of the Year, joining such illustrious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,75,21,19],"tags":[8851,8871,4144,8848,8856,389,8874,7220,2506,8854,32378,8875,7951,519,8862,8852,8865,418,8868,8876,5341,270,8864,8859,226,8863,8853,410,32377,3438,8867,8870,8855,8857,390,399,2833,8873,3248,8866,7611,8872,1061,34,8869,759,32388,8858,7385,8860,403,8850,32373,2671,8849,7453,8861],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t