Colin Firth | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* Platter’s is evaluating its 5 star wines differently this year, already tasted blind by its panel of wine evaluators. Tim James, one of the Platter’s tasters, has explained in his blog today what changes publisher JP Rossouw has introduced, the selection of the more than 200 potential 5-star wines taking place today. The potential 5-star wines are nominated by the tasters. For the evaluation, additional tasters will be used, who were not used for the sighted tastings due to their commercial links to some wines. Seven panels with three tasters each will blind taste about 30 wines, scored in silence, and discussed thereafter, one by one.

* Dame Helen Mirren was seen arriving at Cape Town International this morning, to star in a film with actors Colin Firth and Aaron Paul, in Gavin Hood’s ‘Eye in the Sky‘.

* Chef and MasterChef SA judge Pete Goffe-Wood is a new SecretEATS chef, having recently cooked at the by-invitation- Continue reading →

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* While international sporting events boost tourism to South Africa, our country has a great potential to increase tourism spend. Two constraints to tourism income have been identified: the perceptions about crime, created through media reports; and the negative publicity relating to the new Immigration Regulations, making it far more onerous for international tourists to visit our country, especially if they have children.

* Charlize Theron and Sean Penn were seen at the Mount Nelson Hotel with co-star Javier Bardem on Friday evening, after which they had dinner at Duchess of Wisbeach in Sea Point. Filming of their ‘The Last Face‘ movie is reported by the Weekend Argus to commence next month. Wedding bells are said to be ringing for a South African wedding of the couple later this year.

* The Sunday Times reported today that a number of other top actors are in Cape Town to film movies, including Sacha Baron Continue reading →