Tag Archives: Michael Fridjhon

Aluminium closures increasingly used for wines instead of cork!

Aluminium Jordan branding Whale CottageAn invitation from Waterford Communications to attend a function of the Guala Closures Group, the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA), and South African aluminium producer Hulamin sounded interesting in terms of content. Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant shortlist Jardine at Jordan as function venue was an added attraction.  A passionate case was made for the benefits of using aluminium closures for wine bottling.

On  arrival we received a glass of Jordan The Real McCoy Riesling 2014 andAluminium Duck pate Facebook duck paté canapés, which were served with passion fruit jelly, and prune purée, on brioche.  Buffalo milk mozzarella, confit tomato and basil was also served as a canapé.  We sat at large round tables, covered with brown table cloths and a white overlay.  We received a bread platter, which included ciabatta, Cape seedloaf, and vetkoek, served with porcini butter, watercress pesto (with overpowering garlic), and aoili.

A number of parties with an interest in the use of aluminium in screw caps and closures was present at the Continue reading →

‘Platter’s by Diners Club 2015 South Africa Wine Guide’ launched with a number of changes!

PLATTERS 2015 Guide CoverThe 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, Platter's JP Rossouw Whale Cottageand 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 →

Riedel gourmet glassware makes wines taste better, enhances restaurant experience!

Riedel display Whale CottageI sat next to The Reciprocal Wine Trading Company Cape Town representative Tarryn Thomas at the ‘Chefs who Share‘ Gala Dinner last week, and she invited me to attend the special tasting of wines in the Riedel glassware which they represent in South Africa.  The tasting on Tuesday at The Local Grill function venue was made more special in that it was led by 10th generation Georg Riedel, currently heading up the Austrian-based company. Herr Riedel encouraged the restaurant managers and sommeliers present to invest in glassware and a glass washing machine to bring out the best in the wines they serve.

We were welcomed by Michael Fridjhon, owner of Reciprocal, and he introduced Herr Riedel.  It was the first time that I met Michael, and sat next to him during Riedel Michael Fridjhon Georg Riedel Whale Cottagethe tasting.   I had brought my glass of water into the venue, and was quickly told to put it away, and we were all told that we should not open the bottle of water on the tasting sheet nor taste anything before we were given the go-ahead by Herr Riedel to do so.

Herr Riedel led us to question what makes a restaurant visit successful, the welcome, the food, and the wine selection combined making the cost seem good value or not. Eating at a restaurant is a ‘multi-layered symphony’, he said, to describe the functional and emotional experience of eating out.  He feels that wine Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 18 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Reserve Bank has increased the repo rate by 25 basis points, giving a new interest rate of 5,75%. Governor Gill Marcus blamed inflation for the rate increase.

*   Brazil welcomed more than 1 million visitors during the Soccer World Cup, almost double the estimated 600000 travelers.  Most tourists had never been to Brazil before, visiting from more than 200 countries.  The infrastructure and tourism services generally, and the hospitality and cuisine specifically, were praised by the visitors.  The soccer matches were seen by 3,4 million soccer fans in the stadia over the month-long event.  Visitors stayed in Brazil for 13 days on average.   Brazilians were good soccer fans too, more than 3 million travelling around their own country during the soccer tournament.

*   Melanie Verwoerd has compiled a book ‘Our Madiba: Stories and Reflections from those who met Nelson Mandela‘, containing short stories of numerous persons that met the late Nelson Mandela, including Pieter-Dirk Uys/Evita Bezuidenhout, Adam Small, Francois Pienaar, Amanda Strydom, Sir Richard Attenborough, and many by Mrs Verwoerd herself.

*   The Drinks Business and Intangible Business in the UK evaluated the world’s ‘most powerful Champagne and Continue reading →