At first glance a newcomer to wine might assume that all barrels are the same and serve the same function. So why do we put wine into barrels in the first place? Wood has chemical compounds responsible for various aromas and flavours we experience in the wineglass. Sweet, vanilla tones […]
Evgenie Grekova (mezzo-soprano) & Irina Puryshinskaja (piano). Evgenie Grekova will sing extracts from her performance as winner of the 2006 UNISA International Singing Competition (Category Lieder) – amongst others, songs by Schubert and her fellow-countryman Rachmaninoff. She will be supported by her official piano accompanist Irina Ouryshinaskaja.  Date: 15 August […]
The Chocolate & Port tasting presented by Marita Lamprecht of Rococo la chocolaterie was a definite highlight of the Calitzdorp Port Festival.  Marita traded her corporate life for that of chocolate maker by taking herself off to Belgium to learn her newfound trade and upon her return launched her business in the Little Karoo […]
I attended the Grand Diploma Examination of Megan Swan on Monday 4 May at Hunters Country House, Knysna. Megan is a third year student at Silwood and has been based at Hunters since 2008, working fulltime at Zinzi’s restaurant. Upon arrival guests were presented with a glass of bubbly, Villiera […]
There is a difference between English wine and British wine as follows: British wine is made from grapes imported from other countries, whilst English wine is made from grapes grown on home soil. Armed with this information and having sampled numerous English wines of late I headed for Dorking and Denbies Wine Estate. As […]
In March 2007 I had the pleasure of conducting a site inspection over several days with Pam Rathke, owner of African Art Tours, based in Colorado, USA. Pam’s enthusiasm for Africa and approach to learning meant that I could take her off the beaten track and introduce her to people and places most […]
In November this year we hosted five Sun International staff members from Zambia. These members of staff were down in the Cape to attend a three-day Certificate in Wine course run by Cape Wine Academy. After completing the course the students undertook two days of wine touring with us. This […]
A wine service course is available in the southern suburbs at the Wanderer Wines training facility, located at Westlake Business Park. The course is offered on two consecutive mornings from 09h00 – 13h00 or as a Fullday course and includes both theory and practical application. The focus is on wine service within the hospitality industry […]
The debate regarding screwcap closures has been along divided lines for quite sometime now, with the pro-screwcap group focusing on the fresh, untainted nature of the wine. Those opposed to screwcap point to its failure and unreliability, but is this a fair analysis of the screwcap? South Africa has a […]
Wine will always be a fascinating subject to experience and once you delve into the chemical composition of the living substance you quickly learn that there are various ways the wine might have been made. It is at this point that you often go quiet and begin to realise how […]
