The inaugural The Sommeliers Selection competition attracted close to 400 entries, of which just more than a quarter were selected for the Sommeliers Selection Wine List.
The competition catered for wines, beers, and ciders, entered by large, small and Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines‘
* The Western Cape government has committed R 2,4 million to ‘preserving the Western Cape’s culture and heritage and therefore is committed to providing continued support for them’, MEC Nomafrench Mbombo has said, supporting the Cape Minstrels and Malay and Christmas choirs, and their Christmas Choir Bands March on 24 December, The Nagtroupe March on New Years Eve, and the Tweede Nuwejaar Minstrel March. The community will organise its own Cape Annual Minstrel Carnival next year, after the City of Cape Town’s interference in the past led to problems and poor publicity for the City.
* Australia has been using its unique food and wine bounty to market tourism via the ‘Restaurant Australia‘ campaign to the country. Last week it hosted some of the most important food and wine VIPs to its ‘Invite the World to Dinner‘ event in Hobart. Different creative dishes were served in different artistic venues. The organisers claim to have reached 400 million viewers through the event.
* First Thursdays is heading for Woodstock, and ‘Thursday Late‘ will take place in the suburb on Thursday 27 Continue reading →
The 2015 Platter’s Wine Guide was launched at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel last night, in a Beaujolais Ferment colour, with a number of changes in terms of its methodology to evaluate the 5 star wines, as well as in the content of the Wine Guide. Out of 6000 wines submitted for evaluation, a total of 50 wines and one brandy received the highly desired 5 star rating. The Platter’s Winery of the Year is Sadie Family Wines, the second time that Eben Sadie has received this accolade. DeMorgenzon Reserve Chardonnay 2013 was named the White Wine of the Year, 
and De Trafford Blueprint Syrah 2012 was named the Red Wine of the Year.
The first Platter’s change is that JP Rossouw has been the new publisher for the past year, looking confident last night, relative to his first more restrained presentation a year ago. It was nice to see former publisher Andrew McDowell Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The South African Football Federation (SAFA) has declined the offer to host the 2015 African Confederations (Afcon) Cup, due to Morocco cancelling its hosting due to the Ebola threat. SAFA says that our country does not have the funds to host the event.
* A host of South African companies is participating in the South Africa-China Expos next week, 51 local companies participating in the expos in five Chinese cities. Their participation is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry, so that trade and investment between the two countries can be increased. Bayede wine company is one of the participants, and wants to enhance its presence in China. Robinson and Sinclair Wine Company is another exhibitor, while Rooibos Tea will be promoted generically.
* The Nedbank Green Wine Awards 2014 recognised Reyneke Chenin Blanc 2013 as Best Wine Overall in the Made from Organically Grown Grapes category, as well as Organic Best White Wine. Hermanuspietersfontein Die Bartho 2012 won Continue reading →