On Friday evening I attended the launch of the 40th edition of the Diners Club International 2020 South African Wine Guide, at the Table Bay Hotel in the Waterfront, an event that is pretty much the same in format every year, yet was different this year, in the interest of making the event shorter.
More than 8000 wines from more than 900 producers were rated for the 2020 Platter’s Wine Guide edition. Of the 125 5-star wines awarded, 26 went to Chenin Blanc brands, 18 to Shiraz/Syrah, and 11 to Chardonnay brands.
Yesterday I attended the launch of Yumcious Café in the DeVille Centre in Durbanville, the second restaurant of Chef Jenny Morris, her first one being the very successful Yumcious Café in the Cape Quarter. 
On Thursday evening I attended a four-course cooking demonstration by Private Chef Neill Anthony, at the very impressive very new Reddam House in Durbanville. He cooked from his recently launched cook book ‘Private Chef’. 
On Thursday a number of writers and I enjoyed lunch at the HQ Courtyard by Laurent, a pop-up which has been opened for the next two months or so, whilst the former Bizerca Bistrot is renovated for a new HQ concept restaurant to be opened in winter. Bistrot Bizerca, owned by Chef Laurent Deslandes and his wife Cyrillia, has closed down and Chef Laurent has been appointed as the new Executive Chef of HQ. 
A number of records were broken last night when 94 wines and one brandy were awarded 5 star status at the launch of the Platter’s by Diners Club South African Wine Guide 2017 at the Table Bay Hotel, a new venue, the event having been held at the Mount Nelson for years. The colour of the 2017 Platter’s Guide is Harvest Green. 
At the presentation of the 2016 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 awards at Nooitgedacht outside Stellenbosch on Friday, it was announced that eight out of the Top 20 Sauvignon Blancs come from Elgin and Durbanville.
