About six years ago, when Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen launched his JAN series on Showmax, I asked him when he would open a branch of JAN Restaurant in Cape Town or in the Cape. He was evasive in answering at the time.
After opening KLEINJAN Restaurant at Tswalu Game Reserve a year ago, and his JAN Innovation Studio in Cape Town, Chef Jan-Hendrik has finally Continue reading →
Yesterday The Cape Leopard Trust’s celebrated its 10th anniversary with a Charity Auction lunch at Leopard’s Leap, a perfect synergy between the good work done by the Trust, and the winery’s focus on leopards. We were treated to a fine feast prepared by three chefs, and all left happy that R519000 was raised for The Cape Leopard Trust.
Barbara Lenhard and Florian Gast of Opulent Living are an amazing powerhouse couple in organising events, in addition to publishing their Opulent Living magazine. They managed to attract 180 guests, at R1500 per head, to attend the Charity Lunch on a picture perfect day in Franschhoek. Outside Marco Cianfanelli’s sculpture of a leopard welcomed arriving guests. We were offered a glass of Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Brut MCC on arrival, and were shown to our seats, where we were lucky to have great company, including Darryl from The Light House in Paarl, and Dr Tracey and Brett Garner. Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp of the Expresso Show and her husband Ian 
Bredenkamp of Kfm and Cape Talk were the MCs, keeping a steady pace for the proceedings throughout the afternoon, interviewing chefs, the performers, and sponsors, which included Mercedes-Benz, FNB, and cennergi.
The outgoing CEO of the Cape Leopard Trust, and its founder, Dr Quinton Martins, became very emotional when he spoke, close to tears in seeing so Continue reading →
I have visited almost every winery in Franschhoek, but never Rupert & Rothschild, its tastings having been by appointment only in the past ten years since we have operated Whale Cottage Franschhoek. It was a set of Facebook photographs of Hein Koegelenberg, brother-in-law of co-owner Johann Rupert, that attracted attention to the new Tasting Room, which opened on 1 July.
The farm Fredericksburg was owned by a French Huguenot, and was established in 1690, and taken over by the late Dr Anton Rupert and the late Baron Edmond Rothschild in 1997 when they established their partnership. The owners shared a commitment to preservation and conservation. Grapes are harvested by hand, and the berries are hand-sorted after destemming, to generate the best quality juice. Intervention during the wine-making process is kept to a minimum.
I popped in yesterday, and found a very elegant yet informal and friendly Tasting Room, with a beautiful setting overlooking the Simonsberg mountain and the vineyards of the wine farm. From the R45 between Klapmuts and Simondium one cannot see any buildings on the wine estate, being set back far from the road. The Tasting Room door is locked from inside, so one of the staff must go to the door to press a button to unlock it, which is not clear when one arrives, and appears unfriendly if the staff do not get to the glass door quickly enough. One enters close to the Tasting Desk, seating about 20 tasters on both sides of the desk Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* L’Huguenot, a joint venture between Leopard’s Leap and Yangzhou Perfect, sold 1,5 million bottles of wine in China last year. A cheaper varietal is planned for 2015, which could double the sales of the brand, according to Leopard’s Leap MD Hein Koegelenberg.
* Brands Krone Borealis and Krone Rosé, and brand owner Vinimark, have been left red-faced after Die Burger disclosed that its 2010 MCCs in fact were not Cap Classiques, and have been removed from retail shelves due to the two brands misleading consumers. Winemaker Rudiger Gretschel explained that the 2010 vintage bottles started exploding during fermentation. With the help of Robertson Winery, the content of the remaining bottles was decanted and re-bottled into stronger bottles. The 2010 vintage is now being sold with the Twee Jonge Gesellen label, at almost half the original price. The Méthode Cap Classique Association of South Africa is reported to be outraged by the incident.
* Bouchard Finlayson is sponsoring the Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Art Award 2014 Tondo Competition for the Hermanus FynArts Festival, taking place from 6 – 16 June. Each of the 40 art Continue reading →