Do you swallow or spit?

So you have a mouthful and you are not sure what to do? After timidly holding the liquid in your mouth, you stop to re-examine a question that had been on your mind before: to spit or to swallow? Well, some girls swallow, others don't. Whether you spit or swallow is completely up to you - tastes and preferences differ. When I announced the 3rd Annual Nairobi Wine Festival on Twitter, I indeed got some mixed reactions from my twiends:

• RookieKE @RafikiKenya I'll taste, not swallow.
• Queen_Lucky @RafikiKenya Problem is when tasting... I don't spit. I actually swallow. So imagine how drunk I get...

So @RookieKe doesn't swallow, but @Queen_Lucky swallows. To swallow or not to swallow, that's the question. Some people are advising to spit if you're tasting more than one liquid, and swallow if you are tasting that one unique vintage you always wanted to order.

The 3rd Annual Nairobi Wine Festival will be an opportunity to swallow or spit over 90 liquids from around the world, whilst enjoying live music and delicious bitings around the fabulous poolside at the Holiday Inn:

Event: 3rd Annual Nairobi Wine Festival
Venue: Holiday Inn, Westlands, Nairobi
Dates: Friday 19th March, 5 – 9pm; and Saturday 20th March, 3 – 7pm
Cost: Kshs 1,400/- per person.

Tickets are valid for one day only, and include unlimited swallowing or spitting, bitings and a branded wine glass to take home. Tickets available from The Holiday Inn and The Wine Shop in Kileleshwa. Tickets are limited, buy yours in advance to avoid disappointment! For more information call: 0716 555 118.

You can find some excellent reviews of last year's wine festival here and here.

And if you are still not sure which option to go for, here is a video that could help you in your decision:



And finally, here are my two questions to you:

1. Are you going to this year's wine festival or not?
2. And do you actually swallow or spit?
Source URL: https://pussyhotnaked.blogspot.com/search/label/wine
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The wine Fest - guest post by Pink M

Welcome to history being made right here right now: for the first time ever your dearest Rafiki Kenya blog is being opened up to two well renowned guest bloggers: Nairobinotes and Pink M. A couple of weeks ago, I announced the Annual Nairobi Wine Festival in my post Get stylish and drunk. Many readers encouraged me to do a review afterwards. But unfortunately, duty called and I was not able to participate in the event this week-end. When I announced this very sad news on Twitter, these two legendary Kenyans immediately offered their services in their usual helpful and friendly way, so I decided to open up this space for them. Nairobinotes posted yesterday, mainly on the wines, and Pink M is posting today, mainly on anything else apart from the wines. Happy reading!

Just to warn the wine enthusiasts; the person doing this post knows jack about wine, is slightly tipsy at the moment, and has no recollection of the wines that led her to this state, so sorry, no wines review here.

First off, it’s a good idea to go for a wine festival with someone who doesn’t drink at all. Why? Because you get to drink doubles of everything! Duh! You also get someone to take the photos of the thing, while you’re busy downing half glasses of the stuff.

Well, got there 30 minutes late, thanks to the sun and Nairobi traffic, but that didn’t dampen my spirit. Actually, I was in the right mood for some wine. I was all melancholic and ready to be made happy…. Walk in to some very friendly reception, we get our nice glasses which we were to carry home after the shing dig. Basically, there were about 10 stands by the various wine importers, KWAL, and the makers of Sierra Beer .

The Good


• All the attendants in the various stands were really nice, they seemed to know their thing.
  
• Affordable wines. This is good because I got to sample really good wines that don’t break the bank.
  
• The music!! The one man band was really awesome. He did some pretty good classics reminiscent of The Sundwoner show in KBC. I really had the intention of asking who he was on my way out. Somewhere halfway through the fest, my intentions out the window.
  
• The poolside restaurant at Holiday Inn is really pretty and airy. Mental note to have a date there sometime.
  
• We got a free wine glass. Nice!
  
The Alright

• There was only one water dispenser to like rinse the glasses and the mouth, and it was somewhere on the 4th stand. However, the pool provided a lot of water to rinse the glasses in, too bad I didn’t want to shame my company by rinsing it in there, mouth too. I decided after all, I’m here just to drink, it didn’t matter that by wine 3, they all smelled the same to me because of the mixing and all.
  
• The bitings were long in coming.
  
• I know it was ‘wine tasting’ but really, they could have served more wine. I had to ask for second helpings of the stuff I liked :D
  
All in all, it was a fantastic experience, discovered a really good local wine Leleshwa Rosé by Rift Valley Wineries, I recruited my non drinking company into liking some of the wines, and yeah, I really should have taken Rafiki’s advice not to wear heels and have a meal. I was in the highest of them, and hadn’t had lunch. The shoes weren’t a problem until I had to walk back to the car. I’m pretty sure I’d have walked straighter in flat shoes.
Source URL: https://pussyhotnaked.blogspot.com/search/label/wine
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Nairobi Wine Fest review - guest post by nairobinotes

Welcome to history being made right here right now: for the first time ever your dearest Rafiki Kenya blog is being opened up to two well renowned guest bloggers: Nairobinotes and Pink M. A couple of weeks ago, I announced the Annual Nairobi Wine Festival in my post Get stylish and drunk. Many readers encouraged me to do a review afterwards. But unfortunately, duty called and I was not able to participate in the event this week-end. When I announced this very sad news on Twitter, these two legendary Kenyans immediately offered their services in their usual helpful and friendly way, so I decided to open up this space for them. Nairobinotes is posting today, mainly on the wines, and Pink M will be posting tomorrow, mainly on anything else apart from the wines. Happy reading!

Light and refreshing wines shone brightest at this year's Nairobi Wine Show at the Holiday Inn in Westlands. Unusually hot and dry weather made heavier reds (and even heavier whites) less appealing than they would normally be at this time of year.

The festival showcased producers and estates from South Africa, Australia, Argentina and notably, Kenya. The South African wines, more familiar to my palette after living in Africa for several years, were palatable and pleasant on the whole, but the Kenyan wines were - surprisingly - the most interesting.

KWAL - the Kenyan Wine Agencies, Limited - produces a Cabernet Sauvignon from Machakos. While the wine is not extraordinary, it is serviceable and pleasant - certainly on par with the lower-end of South African wines, and surpassing Drosty-Hof (the all-too-familiar "boxi" wine served in most Kenyan bars and hotelis). The Cabernet - from Yatta Vineyards, outside of Machakos, retails for KSh 400/-.

But by far the most delicious and surprising offering was from Leleshwa vineyards outside Naivasha. Their 2007 Rose is outstanding - especially for its price. It is light and refreshing - perfect for garden parties and barbeques. It's dry - not off-dry, like so many wines here - with a heavier mouthfeel and more layers of flavour than Leleshwa's other product - a rather flat and uninteresting Sauvignon Blanc. Leleshwa's Rose is retailing at KSh 300/- - a real bargain - but is currently only availavle at the River Cafe on Limuru Road, Runda. (Past Village Market - look for the "Gourmet" sign on your left).

I hesitate to review the other wines on offer, because none of them stood out. Below, however, are my recommendations for supermaket wine picks in Nairobi, based on taste and price.

Whites
Every day: Douglas Green, The Beach House (South Africa) - light, sauvignon-based white wine
Special occasion: KWV Riesling - light, tasty, and dry.

Reds
Every day: Bellingham Dragon's Lair 2006 - this is sophisticated and delicious. It doesn't scream in your face like many Pinotage or Cabernet Franc-dominated South African wines might. (It's 84% Shiraz, 11% Mourvedre, 5% Viognier - the Mourvedre makes a difference, and gives the wine a more old-world taste than many modern South African vintages possess.)
Special occasion: Tommasi Amarone - available at Wines of the World, Kileleshwa. Reminiscent of chestnuts roasting on an open fire and other cliches - while this wine was wholly inappropriate for the oppressive weather, it is delicious on a cold day, and has a subtle taste of cinnamon and raisins. It's heavy on alcohol - a small glass after an evening meal, preferably beside a roaring fire, is the best way to enjoy Amarone.

Food
No spectacular foods, though the cheeses and Farmer's Choice smokies (with fruit and olives) paired nicely with the wines on offer.

Beer
Sierra had a booth, showcasing their Blonde, Amber and Porter style beers. While the Porter is really more like an Amber, it is the best beer on offer, with rich flavors and nuttiness the others (including the so-called "Amber" and "Blonde") don't possess.Source URL: https://pussyhotnaked.blogspot.com/search/label/wine
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Get stylish and drunk

The Annual Nairobi Wine Festival will be taking place at the Holiday Inn in Westlands, Nairobi on Friday 20th March 2009 (5 - 9 pm) and Saturday 21st March 2009 (3 - 7 pm). The wine festival is a unique opportunity to taste over 80 wines from around the world. Cost is KSh 1,300 per person. Tickets include unlimited wine tasting, crackers, bitings, live music, a donation to the Mount Kenya Trust, and a branded wine tasting glass to take home. I am planning to attend in my usual capacity as someone who knows too little about wine except how to drink it.

Wine festivals are quite nice. They allow you to pretend that you are engaged in a very sophisticated activity (i.e. tasting wine) when in reality, all you are doing is getting drunk.

Society doesn't like drunkenness nowadays. Get drunk at a party and you are a boozer. Get drunk in a bar and you are a loser. Get drunk at home and you are a degenerate anti-social boozer. But the Annual Nairobi Wine Festival are the exception. Get drunk at the Annual Nairobi Wine Festival and you are trendy, stylish and classy.

It’s pretty easy to get drunk in a situation where you could theoretically taste more than 80 wines (though I’m not sure if anyone would actually have time for that, since there’s some chatter involved - my target is to sip about 40 in 4 hours).

The quality of wine is important only to the kind of irritating people who spit their wine out after tasting it, and these are not people you would have in your home, especially if you’ve got a new white shirt or new carpets.

The first glass of the day should be carefully chosen and politely requested. “I’d like to try a little of your Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 if I may.” Start your tasting modestly. Assess colour, aroma, body and legs. Swirl the wine around the glass, examine, and delicately inhale before sampling. Purse your lips, furrow your brows. Note subtle details in flavour and discuss quietly. Drop words like 'palette', 'aftertaste', and 'hints of blackberry' into the conversation. Comments such as “I prefer the 2006 Merlot”, “It’s a little harsh on the throat”, and “Oh, it’s very smooth” may also be of help.

The second glass follows. And then the third, the fourth and the fifth.

Soon the wine is requested more efficiently: “A glass of your Sauvignon Blanc please mate.”

Lips are no longer pursed, brows remain unfurrowed. The swirling and inhaling is merged into a single routine inspection. Comments become briefer and louder; “Yeah, it’s not bad” and “This is all right” and “Let’s have another one of these”.

More glasses are sampled. More vineyards are visited. Swirling and inhaling is replaced by gulping. Comments are now very short, to the point, sometimes shouted: “Good” and “Bloody good” and “Jeezes, really bloody good”.

I think you are getting my point and you can see where this may be going... Some final tips:

1. Eat a meal beforehand. You’ll stay sober longer. You may want to follow your festival experience with a another meal afterwards. 
2. Consider a designated driver, a taxi, or even a hotel room (rooms at the Holiday Inn are quite nice by the way). This may be the opportunity for a romantic evening if you missed out on Valentines.
3. Dress comfortably. There is no need for high heels, ladies. You can look cute and trendy and leave the stilettos at home, you will be walking a bit and standing a lot. Wear dark colors. Even if you manage to avoid spilling red wine on yourself, someone else might spill some on you. 
4. Get there early. People start filtering in late and things get crowded. Enjoy being early.
Tickets are limited and available from: The Holiday Inn, The Wine Schop in Kileleshwa, The Gourmet Gallery at Rosslyn River Garden and at the door. For more information call +254 716 555 118.Source URL: https://pussyhotnaked.blogspot.com/search/label/wine
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