Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   SA Tourism has launched a new ‘Bucket List’ TV commercial for the Australian market, which includes Cape Town, the Winelands, and shark cage diving. Unfortunately no city/town names are mentioned at all, and whales don’t feature.

*   The Peninsula All Suite Hotel is hosting a Wine&Dine dinner on Thursday 25 July, pairing with Graham Beck Wines (via CSA media release)

*   Six semi-finalists for the Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award 2013 have been announced, two being from the Western Cape, according to Hazell PR & Wine Consultants:

 

Gauteng	Current employment	Previous success in this competition
Germain Lehodey	Restaurant Mosaic, Pretoria
Sean Trollip	Kream Restaurant, Pretoria	2011 Semi-Finalist
Xolani Manconywa	Saxon Boutique Hotel, Johannesburg

 

KwaZulu Natal	Current employment	Previous success in this competition
Eric Botha	Bel Punto Restaurant, Umdloti	2011 and 2012 Semi-Finalist

Western Cape	Current employment	Previous success in this competition
Barry Scholfield	Rust en Vrede Restaurant, Stellenbosch
Kayetan Meissner	Bosman’s Restaurant at the Grande Roche Hotel, Paarl	2011 Semi-Finalist and 2012 Runner-Up

*   The Karoo is being rediscovered, with Wine Flies Wine Tours’ new Forgotten Route – Train to the Karoo,  tracing the steps of diamond miners and early explorers into the Cape hinterland.  Tour operators and Wine Flies owners Francois van Binsbergen (Lord Francois) and Riaan Renke (Baron Renke) paint a vivid picture of yesteryear through play, the bohemian attire and the tour’s attention to detail.  “We realised long ago that people prefer their tours with a bit of storytelling” says van Binsbergen, “and so we created this tour to tell stories that have been collecting dust for some years. We want travellers to immerse themselves in the imagination of a time gone by but we don’t expect them to leave their Instagram and Twitter behind. There’s also plenty of time to pause and take it in; why rush with that much history all around you.” After a tour of key historic sites in Cape Town’s city centre, the adventure begins, on a Friday, from the Kimberley Hotel – site of departure for many a diamond-studded dreamer in the late 1800’s when Kimberley’s promised- land beckoned. From there it’s a bus ride to Rawsonville, where guests are hosted at Kirabo Wine Farm, then all aboard the Shosholoza Meyl, for the ‘train’ part of the journey.  Although it is not the luxurious steam train of old, the experience of the landscape by rail, through lunch and tall tales, recalls an era of ‘slow travel’.  The train ride ends in Matjiesfontein, and guests stay at The Lord Milner Hotel, filled with historical artefacts and ghost stories, where they enjoy a night bus tour and a traditional Karoo lamb braai beneath the stars – all to the sounds of local musos around an old piano. On Saturday morning  the tour begins the scenic trip home via a traditional biltong maker in Laingsburg, into the breath taking Seweweekspoort Pass, a stop at an Anglo-Boer War Fort and lunch at the famed Ronnie’s Sex Shop, where guests can sample the local brew. (via Rabbit in a Hat PR company)

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