About six years ago, when Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen launched his JAN series on Showmax, I asked him when he would open a branch of JAN Restaurant in Cape Town or in the Cape. He was evasive in answering at the time.
After opening KLEINJAN Restaurant at Tswalu Game Reserve a year ago, and his JAN Innovation Studio in Cape Town, Chef Jan-Hendrik has finally Continue reading →
Yesterday The Cape Leopard Trust’s celebrated its 10th anniversary with a Charity Auction lunch at Leopard’s Leap, a perfect synergy between the good work done by the Trust, and the winery’s focus on leopards. We were treated to a fine feast prepared by three chefs, and all left happy that R519000 was raised for The Cape Leopard Trust.
Barbara Lenhard and Florian Gast of Opulent Living are an amazing powerhouse couple in organising events, in addition to publishing their Opulent Living magazine. They managed to attract 180 guests, at R1500 per head, to attend the Charity Lunch on a picture perfect day in Franschhoek. Outside Marco Cianfanelli’s sculpture of a leopard welcomed arriving guests. We were offered a glass of Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Brut MCC on arrival, and were shown to our seats, where we were lucky to have great company, including Darryl from The Light House in Paarl, and Dr Tracey and Brett Garner. Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp of the Expresso Show and her husband Ian 
Bredenkamp of Kfm and Cape Talk were the MCs, keeping a steady pace for the proceedings throughout the afternoon, interviewing chefs, the performers, and sponsors, which included Mercedes-Benz, FNB, and cennergi.
The outgoing CEO of the Cape Leopard Trust, and its founder, Dr Quinton Martins, became very emotional when he spoke, close to tears in seeing so Continue reading →
I have visited almost every winery in Franschhoek, but never Rupert & Rothschild, its tastings having been by appointment only in the past ten years since we have operated Whale Cottage Franschhoek. It was a set of Facebook photographs of Hein Koegelenberg, brother-in-law of co-owner Johann Rupert, that attracted attention to the new Tasting Room, which opened on 1 July.
The farm Fredericksburg was owned by a French Huguenot, and was established in 1690, and taken over by the late Dr Anton Rupert and the late Baron Edmond Rothschild in 1997 when they established their partnership. The owners shared a commitment to preservation and conservation. Grapes are harvested by hand, and the berries are hand-sorted after destemming, to generate the best quality juice. Intervention during the wine-making process is kept to a minimum.
I popped in yesterday, and found a very elegant yet informal and friendly Tasting Room, with a beautiful setting overlooking the Simonsberg mountain and the vineyards of the wine farm. From the R45 between Klapmuts and Simondium one cannot see any buildings on the wine estate, being set back far from the road. The Tasting Room door is locked from inside, so one of the staff must go to the door to press a button to unlock it, which is not clear when one arrives, and appears unfriendly if the staff do not get to the glass door quickly enough. One enters close to the Tasting Desk, seating about 20 tasters on both sides of the desk Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* L’Huguenot, a joint venture between Leopard’s Leap and Yangzhou Perfect, sold 1,5 million bottles of wine in China last year. A cheaper varietal is planned for 2015, which could double the sales of the brand, according to Leopard’s Leap MD Hein Koegelenberg.
* Brands Krone Borealis and Krone Rosé, and brand owner Vinimark, have been left red-faced after Die Burger disclosed that its 2010 MCCs in fact were not Cap Classiques, and have been removed from retail shelves due to the two brands misleading consumers. Winemaker Rudiger Gretschel explained that the 2010 vintage bottles started exploding during fermentation. With the help of Robertson Winery, the content of the remaining bottles was decanted and re-bottled into stronger bottles. The 2010 vintage is now being sold with the Twee Jonge Gesellen label, at almost half the original price. The Méthode Cap Classique Association of South Africa is reported to be outraged by the incident.
* Bouchard Finlayson is sponsoring the Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Art Award 2014 Tondo Competition for the Hermanus FynArts Festival, taking place from 6 – 16 June. Each of the 40 art Continue reading →
The AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction 2014 is an inaugural exclusive, almost elitist, charity event which aims to raise monies which are to be used for educational purposes in the Winelands. It takes place at Delaire Graff Estate over lunch today, with 250 guests, half of whom are likely to travel from overseas to the Cape especially for the auction.
With an aura of a by-invitation-only attendance, Auction organiser Mike Ratcliffe of Warwick Wines invited 30 Auction Ambassadors to assist him in spreading the word about the event, to assist in raising lots for the auction, and to invite guests as bidders to the event. Ambassadors include May de Lencquesaing of Glenelly, Wendy Appelbaum of De Morgenzon, Hein Koegelenberg of La Motte, Rose and Michael Jordaan of Bartinney, Delaire Graff, Charles Banks of Mulderbosch, Paul Cluver, Jeremy Ord and Kevin Arnold of Waterford, Chris and Andrea Mullieneux and their partner ‘Anlajit’ (sic) Singh, Zelma Long and Dr Phil Freese of Vilafonte, the Buys family of Vrede en Lust, Francois Pienaar, Eben Sadie, Ryk Neethling, Jean Engelbrecht, Ken Forrester, Anthonij Rupert Wines, Lanzerac Estate, Anthony and Olive Hamilton Russell, and Giorgio and George Dalla Cia. One wonders why so many of the country’s top winemakers have not been involved in the Auction, the list of Auction Ambassadors clearly concentrated in Stellenbosch. Missing from the list, one would think, is Babylonstoren, Backsberg, Boekenhoutskloof, and a winery or two from the Constantia, Paarl, Wellington, Robertson, Tulbagh, and Durbanville Wine Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The City of Cape Town is calling for more public comments about the draft Liquor By Law: Control of Undertakings that sell Liquor to the Public, 2013, requesting input from 1 October, for a month. Retail outlets will be able to apply for Sunday trading (again), operating no later than 20h00.
* The price of petrol is set to drop by 20 cents at midnight on Tuesday, according to Kfm news.
* Could Slum Tourism be the new trend? Is it ethical?
* Michael Fridjhon sings the praises of Hein Koegelenberg of La Motte and Leopard’s Leap, in how he has transformed La Motte, and the success Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* BA is seeing increased business on its Africa routes and has already announced that it is putting ts A380 onto the Johannesburg route from February 2014. The airline also is increasing its flights to Ghana, Uganda, Liberia, and Serria Leone, whilst cutting those to Lusaka.
* Increasing power and staff costs are major threats to the local wine industry, a study by PricewatershouseCoopers has revealed.
* The Captain DoRegos take-away franchise is to be expanded into the rest of South Africa, and even into Africa, the Spur Corporation has announced.
* Hein Koegelenberg has written an informative blogpost about how to protect Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The MyCiTi Bus is to start rolling in the City Bowl, Sea Point, Century City, Duinefontein, and Melkbos on 2 November Brett Herron, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, has announced via Twitter. The start date for Camps Bay is 30 November, more than a year behind schedule.
* The petrol attendant strike commences today, originally forecast for last week.
* SA Breweries has launched an advertising campaign, in the form of a self-produced advertorial, in the Sunday Times Food Weekly, encouraging beer to be paired with food as the beer’s flavour released in the malting process is similar to that in cooked food, it claims in rather technical terminology! Food and beer pairing tips are provided, with a poor photograph showing an unappetizing looking dish with a small part of a Castle Milk Stout label: flavours must be compatible, strengths must match, ale can pair with what red wine pairs with and lager with white wine pairings, and the greater the bitterness and the higher alcohol content, the heavier the dish should be.
* Excellent feedback was received from German wine writer Mario Scheuermann Continue reading →
MasterChef SA Season 2 is the talk of the country, and we have another four weeks of viewing to look forward to. To warm things up a little, we have launched two competitions, the first being a prediction of who will win MasterChef SA in episode 26.
We are also running a weekly prize for the correct prediction of who our readers think will be chopped out of the MasterChef SA. For the correct prediction of who will leave MasterChef SA in episode 20 on 14 August, Pierneef à La Motte has generously offered a R500 voucher for two, making the correct prediction.
The restaurant was featured in episode 10, when Chef Chris Erasmus conducted a MasterClass, preparing a terrine.
Pierneef à La Motte opened almost three years ago, and has made the Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant shortlist two years running. It pays homage to the master artist JH Pierneef Continue reading →
MasterChef SA Season 2 is the talk of the country, and we have another four weeks of viewing to look forward to. To warm things up a little, we have launched two competitions, the first being a prediction of who will win MasterChef SA in episode 26.
We are also running a weekly prize for the correct prediction of who our readers think will be chopped out of the MasterChef SA. For the correct prediction of who will leave MasterChef SA in episode 18 on 7 August, Pierneef à La Motte has generously offered a R500 voucher for two, making the correct prediction. The restaurant was featured in episode 10, when Chef Chris Erasmus conducted a MasterClass, preparing a terrine.
Pierneef à La Motte opened almost three years ago, and has made the Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant shortlist two years running. It pays homage to the master artist JH Pierneef Continue reading →