The Nantucket Wine Festival concluded yesterday, May 18, with the last Grand Tasting in the tent at the White Elephant Hotel, overlooking Nantucket Harbor.
Over 150 winemakers convened on Nantucket for five days of dinners, tastings, seminars and wine talk. Over 50 restaurants from Nantucket, Boston, New York and points west joined them. The Wine Festival was well attended with visitors, summer residents (coming to open their houses for the season) and Nantucketers.
On Friday, we attended a small dinner where the wines from Vondeling Wines in South Africa were presented. Julian Johnsen, owner of Vondeling, spoke at length about his life journey from school in England to wine growing in South Africa. As a culinary highlight, our host prepared gougeres, a lovely popover-light hors d’oeuvres that were warm, tender and light at air. Coincidentally, Joanne Chang, owner of Boston’s Flour Bakery, demonstrated the preparation of gougeres at the Culinary tent on Saturday morning at the Breakfast on the Harbor event at Children’s Beach – Nantucket serendipity!
