Jan 16 2013
 
Perlemoen, a.k.a abalone
It was a slimy little thing in a mother-of-pearl shell that went and got me all choked-up. Perlemoen we call it, also known as abalone. A creature found along the Cape Coast which has unfortunately become as scarce as a live suckling pig in Oporto due to perlemoenΓÇÖs popularity in the Far East.
Jan 05 2013
Danie de Wet
Danie de Wet, proprietor and cellarmaster of De Wetshof Estate and a leading figure in the South African wine industry, wrote the following article for the ANC’s Progressive Leader magazine. An Afrikaans version appeared in Die Burger newspaper ofΓö¼├í 5 January.
When looking at the economic impact of the South African industry, one has to use a two-pronged approach. The reason being that unlike most agricultural products, one of wineΓÇÖs many unique features is that it cannot ΓÇô or should not ΓÇô be seen as another general, standardised commodity. Wine represents the cultural and geographical diversity of the various countries and the regions within those countries where it has been produced for centuries and millennia. And this enables wine to impact on the economy of a country in a number of ways.
Nov 28 2012
 
Those more accustomed to City Bowl life may not appreciate the excitement of heading to Cape TownΓÇÖs Southern Suburbs after dark. To put it mildly, the pace is a bit slower. The vibe more calmed down and the atmosphere a tad less edgy. Here even the car-guards are upright, clean men with bright teeth who wouldnΓÇÖt think of offering you drugs and try as hard as you like, they absolutely refuse to scratch your carΓÇÖs paintwork upon being give a substandard tip.
Nov 02 2012
Since tweeting an item I read in corporate publication on the history of the Italo-South African wine company Monis, now part of Distell, various enquiries have flocked in. This has to do with the book, written on commission from Monis by Romi Boome in the 1980ΓÇÖs, stating that Monis was the first South African winery to produce a bottle-fermented sparkling wine.
Oct 18 2012
Want limestone in your soil? Get termites.
On the local front, the general consensus appears to be that Chardonnay needs wood-maturation to attain optimal expression and depth. Woodless Chardonnays are not given much serious thought in competitions or discussions, largely the result of the label ΓÇ£un-woodedΓÇ¥ seeming to imply something is amiss or that the bottle contains juice deemed not good enough for barrel nor a serious audience.
Oct 09 2012
We were all tuxed-up, man. For this was Veritas, South African’s premier part of the wine events schedule. So a tuxedo was donned for the most important show of the year.
Oct 06 2012
The Top 10
Despite the calls to duty asking us to embrace Chenin Blanc as the National South African White Grape and the reactionary colourful spats generated by the Sauvignon Blanc fraternity, there is only one real South African white wine worth taking to an international gun-fight, and he be Chardonnay.
Sep 30 2012
Uma Thurman shows that a Merlot tasting can get messy.
The Bride had just sliced the head off her second masked Yakuza gangster when it hit me: what had really just happened over the past few days? Here I was, sprawled on the futon watching Kill Bill Volume 1, lulled by a warm comatose feeling of exhaustion and satisfied post-hectic workweek euphoria.
What a week, I thought looking at the screen as The Bride, aka Uma Thurman, drove a nail through the head of a Japanese schoolgirl.
Sep 23 2012
Beautiful Wellington.
To quote my late English teacher, Mister Struthers-Boshoff, “you is what you is, not what’s you thinks you are”. The folk of Wellington in the Western Cape might speak better English – these days – but the fact remains the same: Wellington has long deserved independence as a wine region from neighbour Paarl, to which it was linked via ward status until this year. Because the region knows what it is and knows it can stand on its own two legs.
Although Wellington’s push for independence – carefully actioned by the delicate force of former Springbok rugby player Schalk Burger – may have been egged-on by the general confusion and regional inactivity of Wine of Origin Paarl. As a united regional entity, Paarl is fast becoming about as relevant as a rare foie gras at a vegetarien love-in.
Sep 19 2012
Brandy legend Pietman Retief
During a presentation I did at Educvin in Burgundy last year, one of the winemakers said it was every so often necessary to take oneΓÇÖs palate out of the comfort zone. ΓÇ£Electro-shockΓÇ¥ he called it. Put something in your mouth that shakes, rattles and burns your flavour sensors, re-awakening them for the next period of wine tasting.
I donΓÇÖt know if this was what Yves had in mind, but I am partial to a double brandy-and-Coke poured to the ratio of a third brandy and two thirds Coke. This hefty dose of spirited sweetness is met with alarm by my cultivated tasting tools, having them cry out in anguish before they are ΓÇô like their possessor ΓÇô lulled into a lovely alcoholic comatose state.