THE newest addition to the Apple and Grape Harvest Festival is a chance to take tastebuds on an exotic journey, according to a local winemaker.
Tickets to the Granite Belt Alternative European Wine Masterclasses are selling fast, with Saturday 2 March session sold out.
Wine education and award-winning Granite Belt winemaker Mike Hayes will be imparting his encyclopaedic knowledge of wine at sessions from 27 February to 5 March, showcasing the region’s stunning wines.
Mike said he was excited to provide wine lovers with fine points of wine evaluation while sampling 10 excellent alternative varieties.
“I look forward to taking participants on an exciting journey of the senses, providing a plethora of knowledge on some of the world`s rarest wine grape varieties,” he said.
Mike was the first Queenslander to win a Gold Medal at the Sydney Royal Wine Show, one of his 70 Gold medals and 67 trophies; was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research autochthonous varieties throughout Europe, and in 2014 received Samuel Bassett Award for “a significant contribution by an individual to the Queensland Wine Industry”.
Presently, he is the winemaker for Symphony Hill Wines and 15 other wineries, and in his ‘spare’ time is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Queensland, with a Masters in Alternative wine grape varieties.
The extensive, but fun program includes:
– Wine evaluation. Learning the finer points of wine descriptors and the professional approach to enjoying wine
– How to become a Wine Judge – Mike will take you through the finer points of wine evaluation and how the Wine Show Judging system works;
-Learn to become a judge
Taste the finest examples of European style wines available on the Granite Belt with a professionally structured tasting with origins of varieties, food matches and stylistic acceptance of wine styles worldwide explained.
Warning, there are limited seats available with only 20 participants per session. Tickets are $75 per person and are available online at www.appleandgrape.org, or purchase from the Festival Shop, Maryland Street, Stanthorpe.
