Ben’s night

Ben Momberg, our host at Middelvlei, started off the second event with a quote: “Every good company has a woman in charge”. Clever words from a man hosting an all-ladies event!

Middelvlei is one of Stellenbosch’s best kept secrets – a picturesque wine farm with excellent wines, a tasting area with a wood burning fireplace, and a marketing manager who lives and loves his brand.

Ben Momberg with Mari and me

In May we hosted two Women of Wines events at Middelvlei. Both evening were perfect winter’s nights – lots of rain and lots of red wine. We kicked off the evenings with their unwooded Chardonnay 2010 – a lovely, fruity, well-balanced wine. Middelvlei first made Chardonnay in 2004. Ben jokes that the family drank half the stock that year, and I can understand why!

Middelvlei’s free run Pinotage 2008 is definitely one of my favourite Pinotages. It doesn’t have that typical acetone, earthy taste, but also not the fashionable chocolate taste of recent Pinotages.

The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Ben describes as an “iron fist in a velvet glove”. Such a beautifully bold wine with wonderful chocolate and spiciness.

Both evenings were so relaxed and fun and Ben was a fantastic host. Lots of South African wine stories were shared, and it was wonderful to spend time with a knowledgeable host who didn’t mind to share his (passion for) wine. Mari’s delicious food provided the perfect match to the excellent wines.

Ben’s top three tips when purchasing wines:

• Don’t buy a wine unless you’ve tasted it
• Ask how long you can age the wine
• If you have wine left on the day that you die, you didn’t plan well! 😉

For photos of the Middelvlei event, click here