Tag Archives: David Sadie

CapeWine 2015 talks and tastes wines too!

Cape Wine Logo (LR)CapeWine 2015 is not just about tasting wine, and meeting the passionate wine makers, but it is also educational, with a series of seminars which have been offered in the Amorim Speakers Corner, which have included wine tastings too.

Each of the seminars are only half an hour long, meaning that speaking is concentrated to 15 minutes and the tasting equally long. Each  winemaker represented wines of a number of wine colleagues, and was not just promoting his own wines. Seating was Continue reading →

Christiaan Groenewald of New Cape Wines Diners Club Winemaker of the Year 2013!

Diners Club Christiaan Groenewald Whale Cottage PortfolioLa Residence pulled out all the stops in hosting the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year 2013 Awards last night, seating and serving 150 guests in its massive entrance hall, lounge and dining room, demonstrating why it was recently voted joint Best Hotel in the world by Conde Nast Traveler.  The Awards evening was described as ‘a gathering of wine aristocracy’, and the ‘Oscars of the Wine Awards’! The Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Award is the only award given to an individual, and is even more special in that it is received in the presence of an audience of experts and peers.

Gareth Cliff of 5FM was a good MC, admitting his ignorance as a wine drinker, and doing a brilliant Julius Malema impersonation based on wines (with Ed Morton and Nick Solomon of La Residence in the photograph below).  As the venue was so large, video screens were set up throughout the venue, allowing each table to see  a screen close by.  A Twitter Feed ran on the screen, Cliff being a heavy Tweeter, which will have pleased his hosts at Diners Club Ed, Gareth Cliff Nick Whale Cottage PortfolioLa Residence and Diners Club, with his 571343 Twitter Followers.  Diners Club Winemaker of the Year 2013 Finalist Johan Jordaan from Spier was an informative and fun table neighbour, as was Franschhoek Tatler editor Siegfried Schäfer and  Helgard van Schalkwyk from Lynx Wines.  Johan was an excellent ‘lighting assistant’, in lighting my plates with his phone to photograph the food! Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 19/20 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Finalists for the Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year 2013, being under the age of 30 years, have been announced:  Murray Barlow of Rustenberg Wines, Hendrien de Munck of Longridge, Attie Louw of Opstal, Emile van der Merwe of Vondeling, Narina Cloete of Quoin Rock, and David Sadie of Lemberg.   The winner in this category, as well as the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year 2013, will be announced on 30 November. (received via media release from African Sky Communications)

*   Pedestrian safety in Cape Town is the theme of the City of Cape Town’s Transport Month this month.  With the use of radio and print ads,  the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, Roads and Stormwater, Councillor Brett Herron, ‘has urged pedestrians to be safe and to make use of designated pedestrian crossings’, says the City media release.

*   Vinexpo Beijing, planned to have been held in June 2014, has been cancelled, due 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 →