Telkom Business Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience 2011

Telkom Business Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience 2011


Published: 02 Aug 11

When: Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th August 2011

Hyatt Regency Johannesburg

Well-known South African wine authority Michael Fridjhon takes guests on a taste discovery of some of the world’s most desired and esteemed wines at the Telkom Business Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience, presented in collaboration with the Hyatt Regency Johannesburg.

This annual sought-after event has three sessions starting with the Benchmark Tasting on Saturday followed by the Gala Dinner and the legendary Champagne Brunch on Sunday morning.

The theme for this year’s Wine Experience is “The World’s Best Shiraz”.

As in the past, 2011’s line-up promises to be an extraordinary line-up of highly sought-after wines matched with menus fine-tuned over months - to encompass the complexity and intricacy of the wines presented. Guests may attend the full weekend or may elect to attend the Saturday evening sessions or Sunday’s Louis Roederer Champagne Brunch.

The Telkom Business Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience 2011

27 and 28 August 2011

Hyatt Regency Johannesburg Professor Saintsbury's Notes on a Cellarbook, published in 1920, is one of the most useful records of the drinking habits of knowledgeable imbibers in 19th century England.

It records, for example, that he bought several dozen magnums of chateau-bottled Chateau Margaux for “the absurdly moderate price” of 3s. 6d. each because the year had a bad reputation. “I drank them,” he noted, “in place of ordinary Medoc of about the same price, and a very good bargain they were.”

However, it is Saintsbury's observations about the wines of the Northern Rhone that are most worth quoting. He describes an 1846 Hermitage as one of “three or four most remarkable juices of the grape..that I ever tasted...When the last bottle of it was put on the table...it was just forty years old. Now most red wines...are either past their best, or have no best to come to, at that age...But my Hermitage showed not the slightest mark or presage of enfeeblement. It was, no doubt...not a delicate wine; if you want delicacy you don't go to the Rhone...But it was the manliest French wine I ever drank; and age had softened and polished all that might have been rough in the manliness of its youth.”

This year's Wine Experience® offers its first unabashed focus on Shiraz since the inception of this event fifteen years ago. The keynote tasting will include - amongst others - a remarkable trio of Guigal Cote Rotie Grands Crus, each of which achieved the 'perfect' 100 score from Robert Parker, Hermitage La Chapelle more than a quarter of a century old, as well as one of the finest modern vintages of Grange.

Dinner will be complemented by a suitably sumptuous array of great Rhone red and white - with the only intruders arriving for the desserts: fine Sauternes from Bordeaux and a rare Maury celebrating over 80 years since its vintage. The Sunday morning Louis Roederer Champagne Brunch will provide the perfect conclusion to this extraordinary weekend. Last year's innovation - the inclusion of a special course to complement the service of Cristal - will again be a feature of what is widely regarded as the best brunch event in South Africa.

We are delighted to announce a partnership with Telkom Business - whose identification with the benchmark status of the Wine Experience weekend has been particularly gratifying for us.

This headline sponsorship will bring a number of direct benefits to regular Wine Experience guests. Of these, the most important innovation is that, arising from their investment, it will be possible for the first time to make the weekend tariff inclusive of accommodation costs at the Hyatt for all guests who attend the Saturday evening event.

In other words, the Early Bird and full weekend rates in 2011 remain the same as in 2010, but now include accommodation on a shared room basis.

We are also pleased to welcome back as the Hyatt Regency's General Manager, Michael McBain, who has long been an avid supporter of the wine weekend. For him, for his staff, and the chefs' brigade, it is an inspirational occasion.


With little more than three months to the 2011 Wine Experience, a dinner to complement the greatest examples of Shiraz, and a brunch to do justice to the array of Roederer Champagnes, are both at an advanced planning stage.

Date:Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th August 2011

Venue:Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, Corner of Oxford Road and Biermann Avenue, Rosebank

Sessions and Times:

Saturday Benchmark Tasting and Dinner Registration 18h30 for 19h00 sharp start

Sunday Louis Roederer Champagne Brunch

Registration 10h00 for 10h30 sharp start until 13h30

Research shows that, taken in moderation, wine is good for your health.

The Telkom Business Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience supports responsible alcohol consumption. Not For Sale To Persons Under The Age of 18.
Drink Responsibly

The 2011 Telkom Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience: Wines & Menu

Welcome drink with canapés – Champagne Louis Roederer 2004

Tasting wines

Guigal Cote Rotie La Landonne 1999
Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline 1999
Guigal Cote Rotie La Turque 1999(A unique trio of Robert Parker 100 point wines from three specific sites within the appellation).
Chapoutier Cote Rotie La Mordoree 1989
Ogier Cote Rotie 2001
Hermitage Belle Pere & Fils 1995
Penfold's Grange 2000
Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 1997

The menu and the dinner wines:

Mohinga fish broth, water chestnut, brown soba noodles & seafood quenelles

Guigal Condrieu La Doriane 2009

Pink salt-crusted saddle of lamb, spring saturated vegetables with morel mushrooms, potato parmentier & tobacco-perfumed sweetbread sauce

Guigal Cote Rotie Chateau d'Ampuis 1999
Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1985

Aromas from the woods: oak bark cream, pine needle oil chocolate, chestnut cake & masticha ice-cream
Chateau Rieussec Sauternes 1999 (Magnum)

Coffee and Friandises

Pla del Fount Maury 1929

A note on the brunch - 28th August 2011

Those of you attending what is widely regarded as the best Champagne brunch in the country will be pleased to know that we will again be serving Cristal in a carefully paired savoury selection which includes Caspian Caviar and Pan-fried Foie Gras.

There will, in addition, be the usual offering of unlimited amounts of oysters from several different origins, sushi, truffled scrambled eggs and a degustation of prosciutto – together with limitless volumes of several cuvées of Roederer Champagnes.

The Telkom Business Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience supports responsible alcohol consumption.