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Little did Delheim
know, back in 1983, what we had created when we launched the
first Grand Reserve at
the Upper Crust restaurant in
Cape Town. The restaurant’s owner, Mike Bampfield Duggan must
have had an inkling of the wine’s legendary status as he held
onto a bottle of that first vintage and brought it along, 25
years later, to present it to Spatz Sperling at the anniversary
dinner ...
as a surprise and a gesture of celebration.
The Grand Reserve
25th Anniversary Dinner was held in the Delheim Vat cellar
attended by friends as
well as all the Grand Reserve cellarmasters
since 1981 – Kevin Arnold, Philip Costandius, Conrad Vlok and
Delheim’s current winemaker, Brenda Van Niekerk. During dinner,
the cellar masters and the Sperlings took turns to - formally
and spontaneously - reminisce the Grand Reserve journey. Kevin
Arnold said that the Grand Reserve epitomises what Delheim is
all about – getting
it right in the vineyards, being consistent and constantly
striving to
do it better.
Guests were given another indulgence when they were invited to taste
all the Grand Reserve vintages from 1981 through to 2006. While everyone
had their favourites, the characteristics that make Grand Reserve
distinctive runs through them all like a silver thread. The 2006 vintage
will be available from the 31 August 2009
It was a memorable evening celebrating
the silver anniversary of one of South Africa’s legendary
wines.
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