Tag Archives: food and wine bloggers

Blogging Burn-Out? Where have all the bloggers gone?

Has blogging lost its charm and appeal, three years after taking off in a big way?  It would appear so, if the blogging habits of some of the longer-standing food and wine bloggers are analysed.  I have observed, for example:

*   Dax Villanueva, of Relax-with-Dax Blog, recently Tweeted about taking a blogging break.  Some food bloggers identified with the sentiment of the ‘blogging holiday’, but Dax does not appear to have reduced his frequency of blogging.

*   Spill Blog has reduced from one blogpost a day at its start last year, to infrequent blogging on weekdays, and does not blog on weekends.  Their infrequent Tweeting (@MackSpill) has rendered them almost invisible.  One wonders how advertisers view the reduced Blogging activity.

*   David Cope’s The Foodie Blog now sees one blogpost a month, compared to many more when he first started blogging.  He almost exclusively Tweets.

*   The Jamie Who? Blog is interesting, as blogger Andy Fenner closed down his blog by this name last year, and incorporated it into a joint lifestyle blog called Aficionado, with two other bloggers.  Its clean and neat design, and top level brand endorsements, did not attract enough advertising revenue for the three partners to live from, Fenner blogged honestly, and therefore it was closed down last week.  Now Fenner will have to start from scratch in building readership, an expensive price to pay.  Even Fenner’s blogging frequency on Aficionado dropped significantly, only blogging once in the past month.  Fenner may have lost interest in blogging generally, announcing that he is opening Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants in the next month.

*   Matt Allison of I’m No Jamie Oliver Blog has not Blogged since the beginning of this month, and will be moving to a new blog he will call ‘Planting Thoughts’, reflecting his new passion for urban farming.

It would appear that Blogging Burn-out may be occurring amongst more established bloggers.  Either they are making good money out of their blogs (or not), or they are making money from other sources.  Those bloggers who do not accept advertising on their blogs, blogging for the love of it, appear to be more frequent bloggers.  Serious bloggers spend a good two hours in writing a post, and it is the posting of the photographs that is time-consuming, especially those taken with a better quality camera.  Attending the function that one blogs about, driving there, and then writing about it, can take almost a full day, a luxury for bloggers who have a ‘day job’.

Recently a ranked list of lifestyle blogs and websites, some incorporating food and/or wine, and almost all accepting advertising, was published by Wyncc (linked to Spit or Swallow and Winetimes), based on daily page views (on 17/10):

  1. food24.com – 126 592
  2. 2oceansvibe.com – 104 158
  3. winetimes.co.za – 47 539
  4. watkykjy.co.za – 25 105
  5. capetownmagazine.com – 19 763
  6. imod.co.za – 16 558
  7. wine.co.za – 14 956
  8. bangersandnash.com – 14 422
  9. lifeissavage.com – 8 546
  10. jhblive.com – 6 944
  11. missmoss.co.za – 6410
  12. cooksister.com – 5 341
  13. capetowngirl.co.za – 4 807
  14. winemag.co.za – 3 739
  15. aficionado.co.za – 3 205
  16. relax-with-dax.co.za – 2 671
  17. whalecottage.com – 2 671
  18. kimgray.co.za – 2 671
  19. whatsforsupper-juno.blogspot.com – 1 068
  20. spill.co.za – 1 068

Using The South African Food & Wine Blogger Directory as a guideline, I checked the Blogging frequency of a number of blogs.  Pendock Uncorked and Sommelier Miguel Chan Wine Journal Blogs post daily or even more frequent blogposts in general, while Cook Sister, Just Food Now, Food & the Fabulous, Hein on Wine, Batonage, Cape Town by Mouth, Betty Bake, and Scrumptious South Africa blogposts appear more than once a week, on average. It is a shame that Sardines on Toast blogger Kobus van der Merwe last blogged in August, and that Pete Goffe-Wood, with a sharp wit, only blogs once in six months on the Kitchen Cowboys Blog.

The annual S A Blog Awards entries closed at midnight, and appears to be a non-event this year, if the low-key Tweeting about it, and the large number of Bloggers who could not be bothered to enter, is an indicator.  Every year the SA Blog Awards attracts criticism, and this year is no exception.  The biggest surprise is that only ten Blog categories will be contested, compared to 24 categories last year, benefiting more focused Bloggers, and not those writing more generally about a diversity of topics:

  • Best Business / Political Blog
  • Best Entertainment / Lifetstyle (sic) Blog
  • Best Environmental Blog
  • Best Fashion Blog
  • Best Food & Wine Blog
  • Best Music Blog
  • Best Photographic Blog
  • Best Science and Technology Blog
  • Best Sport Blog
  • Best Travel Blog

There is very little consistency and comparability with the SA Blog Awards of 2010. Noticeable by their absence this year are the Most Controversial Blog, Best New Blog, and Micro-Blogging (Tweet) categories. The rules have changed too, and for the first time the Blog entries are limited to Bloggers residing in South Africa, automatically excluding regular past-winner in the Food & Wine category, London-based Cook Sister Blog, and the Indieberries Blog winner of last year. Only two categories may be entered per Blogger.  Voting will be limited to one vote per Blog, and closes on 9 November.  Judges will only evaluate the top three publicly-voted Blogs per category.  Judges will choose the Blog ranking in each category.  The judges vote will decide the overall winner of the SA Blog Awards.  Radio sport presenter JP Naude will be running the organisation, not being a blogger himself, with support of last year’s Award’s organiser Chris Rawlinson.

It will be interesting to see how Blogging evolves over time, and whether the rate of new Blog start-ups will reach saturation.   Loyal Blog readership remains at a high level, readers being more active supporters of Blogs than their writers, it would appear.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Honesty and independence best basis of blogging, food and wine bloggers told!

Bloggers must be honest and independent to have any credibility, the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting was told by wine blogger Dion Martin at its meeting held at French Toast Wine & Tapas Bar last week.  This was echoed by food blogger and restaurant design curator Neil Stemmet.

Dion Martin writes The Travelling Vineyard Blog as a sideline, being a print-on-demand publisher in his day job.  A love for food in his family, a chef qualification he obtained via City and Guilds, a Cape Wine Academy Certificate, and a University of Stellenbosch Wine Evaluation diploma, led Dion to start his blog two years ago, so that he could document his wine experiences.  Dion mentioned that lawyer Robert Parker could be seen to have been the first blogger, in having published a weekly newspaper thirty years ago already, sharing his evaluation of the wines he had tasted.  Dion has observed an increasing ‘noise’ in food blogging, and therefore one should find a point of difference with one’s blog:  it could be humour, it could be its excellent photographs, or its ethics, in declaring when the blogger has received a complimentary product or meal.  Few bloggers disclose freebies, he said.   When he was asked how he deals with freebies, Dion said he would accept them, but would not write about a wine in isolation.  He might write a comparative review about a blind tasting he would do with the freebie wine against two others.   

Dion said that he is an avid Twitter fan (@TVDionysus), but he sees a lot of ‘soulless Tweeting”.  He warned that communication on a medium such as Twitter can be misinterpreted due to the loss in intonation, which one would have in spoken communication.  He warned Tweeters to be careful in what they say, and attendee Dusan Jelic added that one should not ‘Drink and Tweet’.   Dion has seen people on Twitter follow groupings, reflecting a herd mentality.  Twitter is a conduit to one’s blog.  Twitter has a lot of ‘noise’ too, and he filters this ‘noise’ out via TweetDeck, in reading only the Tweets of a select number of persons he follows.  Such a facility is available on HootSuite too.  He is strict in unfollowing those that do not follow him.  Dion said that he does not use Vlogging much yet, but is experimenting with it, as he recognises the value of YouTube videos in Google search optimisation.   He advised bloggers to not make the video longer than 30 seconds.   Dion does not use Facebook much, but recognises that it is powerful. 

Dion brought along a selection of Shiraz wines, for the bloggers to taste: Rusty’s Red from McGregor, made by garagiste John Hargraeves and costing about R40; Rusticus is a Shiraz and Viognier blend from Robertson, costing about R80; Le Marquis de Beau Rond Syrah received the least favourable response; Simonsvlei Toffee Chunck Syrah was also not that highly rated; the Sutherland Shiraz from Elgin, costing about R90, received the most most positive response. 

Neil Stemmet writes ‘soutenpeper’ Blog, the content all written in lower case, to represent his humility and the blog’s simplicity, and is in Afrikaans.  He focuses on the food tradition of South Africa, and his book by the same title will be published in November, and will be launched at the Food Indaba, to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and organised by Design Indaba’s Ravi Naidoo.  Neil said that he has no formal training, but he sees himself as a teacher, in wanting to leave a legacy.  He is a ‘survivor’, he says, and says that the more one gets stamped upon in a judgemental society, the more fuel one obtains. He has been the interior curator of the Towerbosch restaurant at Knorhoek, and Cuvee at Simonsig.  He received acclaim for his award-winning stand he curated for the BOS Tea House, and he did so with minimum budget, collaborating with a  number of design suppliers, each of whom brought a display case representing their outlet.  The walls were painted purple, and the food was served in large platters at the symbolic ‘altar’ table, explaining his interpretation of a reaction to religion. 

The ‘soutenpeper’ name reflects Neil’s approach to food preparation, which is adding nothing more than salt and pepper to a leg of lamb.   It starts in obtaining one’s meat from a butcher one knows, and knowing from where he sources his meat.  Neil started his food career with his restaurant Le Must in Upington, which he opened in 1985, and still owns. Here he once served Nelson Mandela.  He keeps his food ‘hearty and simple’, serving it in large platters, and it is eaten with ‘great conversations’.  Neil started ‘soutenpeper’ on WordPress, and asked for help when he got stuck in his early days of blogging.  The publishers approached him about the book after only three months of blogging. He said of his growing reputation:”The more people write about me, the more scared I get”.  He says it takes energy to live up to the coverage he receives, and he is always honest and sincere.  He speaks his mind.  He advised bloggers to write what comes to mind, to be natural in what one writes, and “to trust one’s instinct and to not force it”.  Do not shout, he advised, ‘speak quietly’.  ‘Become more humble, the more success you have.  It is not about you, but about the energy flowing through you.  Do not write for who we think we should be, but for what you are. Always share knowledge, and you will get reward from it’, he concluded.

French Toast Wine & Tapas Bar is jointly owned by Karen Visser and John Harrison, and opened last year. They generously hosted the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting next to their cosy downstairs fireplace, serving bruschetta, as well as a surprise Chocolate Fondant.

The next meetings of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club take place as follows:

   *   20 July : Hennie Coetzee and Maggie Mostert of Batonage Blog, at What’s On Eatery

   *   17 August:  Nikki Dumas of Swirl Blog, and Matt Allisson of I’m no Jamie Oliver Blog, at Den Anker, wines sponsored by Jordan wines

   *   21 September:  Chef Brad Ball of Bistro1682, and a wine speaker from Steenberg, at Steenberg

   *   19 October:   Roger and Dawn Jorgensen of Jorgensen’s Distillery, and Anthony Gird and Michael de Klerk from Honest Chocolate, with a chocolate and potstill brandy tasting and talk on blogging, at Haas Coffee on Rose Street. 

   *   12 November: Saturday lunch visit to new Leopard’s Leap tasting room and cookery school in Franschhoek

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  E-mail: whalecot@iafrica.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage  @FoodWineBlogClu Food & Wine Bloggers Club now on Facebook

Blog with passion, Food & Wine Bloggers advised

Food and wine bloggers should blog with passion, they were told by both wine blogger Dusan Jelic and food blogger Linda Harding, who addressed the first meeting of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club of 2011 and which was held at Pigalle Restaurant.   It was the largest attendance in the nine-month history of the Bloggers’ Club, and representatives of food and wine PR companies, food bloggers, wine bloggers, wine estates, and even the author of “Pinotage’, the only book written about this wine variety, UK-based Peter May, attended.

Dusan Jelic introduced the bloggers to wines he had brought along from Wederwill (12°C  and 17°C) and Avontuur (Vintner’s Blend Rosé and their Brut).    Dusan started working as the Social  Networking and Media Manager of wine.co.za in May last year, and he embraces Facebook, blogging and Twitter for the company, spending about 9,5 hours daily with social media.  His company’s website is the most comprehensive data base of wine information in South Africa, it was said.   He gave bloggers the following tips:

1.  Always be honest in what you say and write. One’s “reputation is priceless”, he said.

2.   Wine education is important, and should be constantly improved.  Dusan praised the Cape Wine Academy, as being a top-class institution, and its courses at three levels.  He himself is currently studying for his Diploma.  

3.   Dusan advised social media users to ‘don’t drink and Tweet’.  He warned that it “reveals deep fears and thoughts”, and gives away more about oneself than one would have wanted to.

4.   Have integrity, because you will be found out.  Dusan quoted winemaker Abrie Bruwer of Springfield, who has not released one of his 1999 wines, because it is not ready yet.  It could have been launched and earn revenue, but the brand would have suffered.  One cannot fake passion and work ethic, Dusan said.

5.   Trust your palate – Dusan explained about the different wine evaluation methods used, including the Decanter score out of 100, and the South African score out of 20.  Platter uses stars.   He said one should respect those wine drinkers who are able to express what they can smell and taste in a wine.   As one develops one skills, one will be able to smell and taste specific fruits.  Dusan advised one to be relaxed when tasting a wine:  “wine is a living thing”, he said, and advised that it was acceptable to ‘slurp’ one’s wine when tasting it, to bring in air.

6.   Do not be a freeloader.  Freebies must be acknowledged in blogging.  Give the sponsored brand credit, but also point out its weaknesses, if relevant.

7.  Do not write monotonously, approach an evaluation positively, and present the aspects which need to be improved.

8.   However, in contrast, Dusan said that one should not be a “people pleaser” in one’s blogging, as one would not have credibility.

Dusan was asked which wine blogs he reads regularly, and his list includes Simon Back from Backsberg, and Emile Joubert from Wine Goggle, both previous speakers at Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings.   He said that wine tasting was the beginning, but the ultimate was the pairing of wine and food.

Linda Harding is a bubbly blogger, who only started her blog Squashed Tomato, based on the title of a book she read as a child, in May last year.  She is an intern for Eat In and Eat Out, and works in tasting rooms too.  She described herself, highlighting that it is important to read other bloggers’ blogs, to get to know them and their personality, and that will determine who one will follow on Twitter and whose blogs one will read, she said.  Linda is a Sagittarian, and her star sign defines who she is.  She describes herself as a “flexitarian” as far as her eating goes, eating anything, especially seafood, but she once was a vegetarian!   Linda only started cooking four years ago, and blogs about her recipes, which are quick and easy to do and do not need expensive ingredients.    She started off using her cellphone camera, and has ‘progressed’ to a “mik en druk”, she laughed. 

From input gleaned from other food bloggers, Linda presented a list of food trends for 2011:

1.  Food markets are increasingly the source of purchase, away from supermarkets

2.   Eating out will increasingly be for lunch on weekends

3.  Fruit-based desserts will become increasingly popular

4.  Restaurants serving all-day breakfasts are on trend

5.   Meat will increasingly be bought from butchers who have personal relationships with the farmers that supply their meat

6.  Serving tapas in restaurants is a strong trend

7.   Good value for money quality offers will be a success formula for restaurants.

8.   Meat-free Mondays will grow in support

9.   Artisan bakers will receive increasing support

10.  Greater awareness of food origin and reading of pack labels.

Linda sees Twitter as an important networking tool, and it reflects what one is passionate about.  To be re-tweeted by Spit & Swallow, with their more than 6000 followers, is first prize, she said.   Linda advised bloggers to ‘write for what you want, for what you enjoy, and not for what you think others want’.   She also advised one to read other blogs regularly, and to evaluate their layout and photographs.  To build relationships and to receive support and traffic, bloggers must give by commenting on others’ blogposts.   One should use one’s own photographs, where possible.   Images are vital, as ‘one eats with one’s eyes’.  Spelling mistakes are unforgivable, especially as most blog platforms have a spellchecker.   One should become a real person on Twitter, sharing not just business information (such as a new blog post), but allow one’s personal side to come through as well, she advised.   Keeping awareness on Twitter throughout the day is vital, due to the volume of Tweets one is exposed to, but she advised against retweeting one’s blog link more than once a day.

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to allow food and wine bloggers to meet other more established bloggers, to learn from them but also to network with them.  There is no formal blogging course, and the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club assists in growing the body of knowledge about blogging, through the sharing of information.   It also is an opportunity to taste good wines, and to sample good restaurant food.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Restaurant Review: OYO Crayfish Special a special summer catch!

One of the specials on the Whale Cottage Spring/Summer specials list  is OYO’s Crayfish special.  Yesterday a group of food and wine bloggers and journalists was invited by Manley Communications, on behalf of their client Newmark Hotels, to enjoy a taste of the Crayfish Special at OYO Restaurant and Cocktail Bar at the V&A Hotel, which costs R185 for 500 gram.  The lunch was perfect for the lovely summer’s day.

OYO means ‘whoa’ in Chinese, a reaction to the food and lovely view from the restaurant onto Table Mountain from the inside tables, and those outside along the quay.   It is also a visual representation of two plates and a glass of wine.  The chef at OYO is Sanel Esterhuizen, relatively unknown, but who has been with the hotel for almost 2 years, and has a wonderful way with the presentation of food.  

Newmark Hotels was previously known as the Ambassador Group, and owns the V&A Hotel, the Ambassador Hotel, the Salt Restaurant, Salt Deli, Salt Vodka Bar, Dock House and the Villa Collection.  The Group is on an expansion trail, having bought the old Splendida Hotel on Beach Road in Mouille Point, and is busy renovating the accommodation and restaurant.  The restaurant will be run by Caveau.  In addition, the Queen Victoria hotel, in a building which has housed the management of the V&A Waterfront, is being renovated and will open for business next year.  

For the second year running OYO has obtained a “7 ton pre-allocation of crayfish”, translating into 14 000 crayfish tails, which will be served throughout summer.   It is unclear how the allocation works, and whether the crayfish served is fresh or has been frozen before preparation.

The wines for the lunch were sponsored by Hartenberg, a wine estate in Stellenbosch that is over 300 years old, and is a founder signatory of the South African Biodiversity in Wine Initiative, expressing its care for the environment.    Its product portfolio includes The Gravel Hill, The MacKenzie Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, The Stork Shiraz, Weisser Riesling, ‘The Eleanor’ Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, Pinotage, Shiraz and Merlot.   The Shiraz has voted the third best in the world at Syrah du Monde, while its Merlot was judged the world’s best in the International Wine & Spirit Competiton in London.   Earlier this year the Shiraz was named the Best New World wine at the Zürich International Wine Competition. 

The winelist on the website contains some typing errors, the only flaw about this good restaurant.  What is most impressive is that almost each of the wines offered is available by the glass and by the bottle, 70 wines-by-the-glass in total, which is most commendable.   More champagnes than local sparkling wines are available, the imported ones costing between R 425 for Moet et Chandon Brut to R 2595 for Dom Perignon. Local bubblies range from R37/R190 for Villiera to R 52/R275 for Pierre Jourdan Belle Rose.  Four Shiraz wines are offered – De Meye costs R35/R125 – Bon Courage Inkara costs R79/R295. 

The starter was the highlight for me, in its beautiful presentation, being a Shellfish Cocktail, consisting of langoustines, prawns, crab, shrimps, mussels and clams, with a brandy crème fraiche served on the side, an unexpected but interesting combination.   It was served with “The Eleanor” Hartenberg Chardonnay 2007. Other starters range widely in price, from R40 for a vegetable soup to R175 for a delicious-sounding abalone risotto.

The OYO special allows one to order the West Coast crayfish in one of two ways.  The grilled crayfish is served with Malay pilaf rice, roasted vine tomatoes and a selection of three sauces – lemon butter, garlic and peri-peri.   The steamed and then cooled down crayfish is served with a summer melon and herb salad and avocado mayonnaise, which was the option I chose.   The crayfish was perfect, and the avocado mayonnaise a most unusual but lovely combination.  The salad was served in a glass, with tiny balls of orange and green melon, slivers of cucumber, radish slices and herbs, making a lovely accompaniment to the crayfish.   It was served with Hartenberg Sauvignon Blanc 2009.  The menu on the website lists the warm crayfish dish at the usual price of R 275, and a seafood platter for two costs R495.   Other main courses are well-priced between R 100 – R120, for steak, duck, springbok, pork belly, lamb and kingklip.

I did not have the dessert, but it looked beautiful too, being a slice of chocolate tart with mulberry (what a unique ingredient!) sorbet and almond rocks, which was paired with the Hartenberg Merlot 2008.  Desserts range from R45 for bread and butter pudding to R75 for Chocolate nemesis.

The service of the staff was attentive, efficient and professional, constantly topping up the water and the wines.  I was impressed when I was greeted by name on arrival outside the hotel at the drop-off zone, by Manager Mark Gers, a most friendly welcome.  

The Crayfish special is excellent value for money for crayfish lovers, and also for tourists who would like to try this South African delicacy.

Disclosure: Guests attending the lunch received a hamper of Hartenberg wines, as well as a voucher to stay in the new Queen Victoria Hotel, opening next year.

OYO Restaurant and Cocktail Bar, V&A Hotel, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.  Tel (021)  419-6677. www.vahotel.co.za.   Hartenberg Wine Estate : www.hartenbergestate.com

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage