Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Decanter included three South African wines in its 2013 top 50 wines, out of a total of 3200 wines evaluated. Alheit Vineyards’ Cartology 2011 was ranked 4th; Vuurberg White 2011 was ranked 36th; and Adoro Red 2006 was ranked 37th.
* Given that the week of romance is upon us, the top five most romantic beaches of South Africa have been named, Clifton making first place, followed by Umhlanga Rocks, Noetzie in Knysna, Margate, and Noup in the Northern Cape.
* About 10% of tourists arriving in South Africa come to participate or watch a sports event. Now a new sport called Bossaball, a combination of soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, and an Afro-Brazilian martial arts form capoeira, is to be introduced to our country by Zinto Sports.
* The Cape Town Art Fair 2014 will be held at The Pavilion in the V&A Waterfront from 28 February – 2 March. The entrance fee of R120 also entitles entrance to ‘GUILD’, an exhibition of Design, held at The Lookout, also in the V&A. Both exhibitions form part of Cape Town hosting World Design Capital 2014.
* Allan Mullins has been appointed as ‘chief wine selector’ by Africa Wine Merchants,a Cape Town based importer of premium European wines for distribution throughout the African continent.
* American Star-Telegram.com writer Stephanie Allmon visited the Mother City in December, during the time South Africa was mourning the loss of Madiba. Her ‘Captivating Cape Town‘ article sings the praises of our city. She encourages travellers to visit, given the favourable exchange rate. She shares her experiences visiting the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill, Bo-Kaap, Gourmet Boerie, Beerhouse, Tokara, Le Quartier Français, Nederburg, and the One&Only Cape Town. She writes about the craft beer trend, that Graham Beck MCC was served for President-to-be Barack Obama in 2008, and that Cape Town is a top film location with well-known American actors such as Meryl Streep in the city at that time. She recommends going up Table Mountain in the cable car, visiting Camps Bay beach, following in Madiba’s footsteps on Robben Island, and having a picnic at Kirstenbosch. She gets the Cape Town restaurant scene badly wrong however, claiming that ‘the city is host to eight (sic) of the top South African restaurants listed in the 2012 Eat Out Awards‘, despite the 2014 Awards having been hosted a month before her arrival! Cape Town has two Eat Out Top 10 restaurants currently, and had three the year before!
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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