Tag Archives: Babylon’s Peak

25th Veritas Awards crown KWV as 2015 king of the wine industry!

imageLast night KWV was crowned as the king of the wine industry for the fifth year running, winning 5 Double Gold and 9 Gold Awards for its wines, more than any other winemaker. Nederburg (2 Double Golds and 11 Gold Awards) and Spier (2 Double Golds and 8 Gold Awards) followed in second and third place, respectively, awarded at one of the highlights of the wine industry, a function attended by about 400 wine industry staff and media, with their partners. Kanonkop won the Best Performance by Entry title for 10 wines or fewer entered, while KWV won the title for more than 10 wines entered.  A total of 57 Double Gold, 157 Gold, 473 Silver, and 662 Bronze medals was awarded.  A mix of local and international judges evaluated the entries.

Not only were the wines with their winemakers and related staff celebrated, so too was the 25th anniversary of the Veritas Awards. The highlight of the evening for me was seeing how many women Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 25 August

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   A Red Alert has been issued for Europe air travel, with the imminent eruption of the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland, the most serious alert indicating an expected ‘significant emission of ash into the atmosphere’.   Four years ago the Eyjafjallajokul volcano erupted, and caused international travel chaos, with 100000 flights cancelled at that time, threatening the arrival of passengers for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

*  Yesterday’s earthquake measuring 6,2 on the Richter scale has shaken San Francisco and Napa Valley, and is expected to have caused damage to bottles of wine in America’s prime winemaking region.

*   Sadly MasterChef SA Season 1 Top 4 Finalist Sarel Loots, better known by his Twitter handle @SarelvanSabie, passed away from a heart attack today.  In the last episode in which he appeared, he was described by the judges as having ‘a big heart’.

*   The 2014 SA Young Wine Show awards attracted 1972 entries. Trophies were Continue reading →

‘Pendock Uncorked’ Times Live blog corked, blanked out!

Pendock Times Live Whale Cottage Portfolio‘South Africa’s leading independent drinks commentator‘ is no more, the ‘Pendock Uncorked’ blog on the Times Live (owned by the Sunday Times) platform having been blanked out, after a week long wine web war about the lowest-of- low loathed Pendock has reached in lashing out at all and sundry in the wine industry.

A week ago Pieter de Waal, (former?) Secretary of the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group, wrote a widely-distributed e-mail to explain his side of the story to counter persistent Pendock’s attacks on him re the recent FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc 2013 judging.  De Waal provided the e-mail addresses of Reuben Goldberg and Derek Abdinor at the Sunday Times, and encouraged others to write to them and to share what they think of Pendock’s wine business bashing. We must have been one of many sending them e-mails of complaint, and requesting that Pendock’s posts be removed.  Not responding to any complainants at all, the powers that be at the Sunday Times took action silently, having disallowed any new blogposts by Pendock to be added to his Times Live blog from 10 October onwards, and from yesterday onwards removing all past content of these blogposts, only retaining the first paragraph of his last ‘Pendock Uncorked’ blogpost ‘Beaverbrook of Botrivier‘, Continue reading →

WOSA Sommelier World Cup clever way to market South African wines!

WOSA Sommelier Cup Will Predhomme Whale Cottage PortfolioYesterday I spent a most entertaining afternoon at the Grande Roche hotel in Paarl, to observe the last phase of the Wines of South Africa (WOSA) Sommelier World Cup competition, the announcement and evaluation of the Top 3, and the awarding of the prize to the winning sommelier Will Predhomme.

The invited guests were the twelve finalists for the Sommelier World Cup, media representatives from the USA (I sat next to Rebecca Canan from the Terroirist Blog), Sweden, and Belgium, local writers, the local and international sommelier judges, and WOSA staff from its international offices as well as from its head office in Stellenbosch.   After a welcome glass of wine, we sat down for lunch at Bosman’s, and it was clear to see why this Continue reading →