Annandale road out Stellenbosch way gently meanders its way past numerous wine estates. Stop in at a few of them by all means, but do keep on going because where Annandale road runs out you’ll discover Haskell Vineyards. I visited recently along with other wine media to celebrate their 20th birthday. Originally called Dombeya, the estate was acquired in [...]
Phew, we’ve made it – tomorrow is officially the first day of spring! And while I can’t pack away the thermal undies and electric blankie just yet, the mere thought of spring is enough to get me celebrating. But there’s more to 1 September than Spring Day – it also happens to be national Cap Classique Day! So I’ll be [...]
Eternal optimist that I am, I start smelling spring from the second week of August. Of course winter isn’t nearly done with us, expect her to give us a smart smack or two yet! It’s nothing that I cannot survive with a glass or two of good red wine in my hand. Quite fitting then that we’ll be celebrating [...]
Ask wine lovers about South African wine regions and chances are many would do the obvious and talk about the Boland – Stellenbosch and Paarl, possibly Franschhoek. I’m guilty myself of giving the cooler coastal wine regions less attention. Rather shortsighted of course, because these regions produce exceptional wines. The Hemel-en-Aarde valley close to Hermanus is one of our cooler [...]
Last Friday I had the kind of lunch every remotely serious foodie fantasises about – a meal dedicated to the wonders of the truffle. Renowned the world over as ‘black gold’, these oddly-shaped, knobbly, wart-looking fungi are a rare treat indeed, because unlike in Europe, they used to be pretty much unavailable in South Africa. That all changed a [...]
New Barista black – smooth enough for James Bond Were he real, the world’s most celebrated secret agent would now be 100. His creator and many actors who portrayed him over the years may be long gone, but the image of this super smooth spy dude still lives large. Pinotage is also approaching the 100-year mark, so when the [...]