Tag Archives: Neil Joubert

‘Grape’ serves crushing future for the grape and wine industry!

A book just published, entitled ‘Grape’,  and sub-titled ‘Stories of the Vineyards in South Africa’, covering the history of wine and grape farming in the period 1652 – 2011, is certain to cause discomfort to the wine and table grape industry, in its accusation that there is much room for improvement in the way this industry treats its staff, despite many changes over time, especially since 1994. The industry is asked to get its house in order, in being ethical in the treatment of its staff.  The book concludes that the future of the wine and table grape industry is a depressing one, and one that can be to the disadvantage of those workers it aims to uplift. 

A large part of the blame must be placed at the door of the Department of Labour, which does not appear to be doing its job properly in regulating working conditions for farm workers, said ‘Grape’ co-author Dr Wilmot James, a member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance, addressing the Franschhoek Literary Festival about his book on Sunday.  Written with Professor Jakes Gerwel, Chancellor of Rhodes University, and freelance journalist Jeanne Viall, the book paints the picture of the history of labour on grape and wine farms since 1652.

In hearing Dr James speak, it felt as if he has a chip on his shoulder, as he told the audience that the book’s initial focus was the abuse of ‘Coloureds’ by the wine industry, but as he was told that this was a racist approach, and he could not define exactly what this racial label means, he and his co-authors decided to broaden the focus of the book to include all workers in the industry.  The book kicks off with a “Note on terminology”, and in it is written “it is questionable whether one can speak of the coloured people at all.  In this essentially residual category are to be found people of the most diverse descent”, including slaves from Indonesia, the San (Bushmen) and Khoikhoi.

The book documents the stories of workers on grape farms, “which is the story of South Africa, mostly that of the Gariep/Orange River area and the Western Cape”.  The book continues: “The history of workers on grape farms is a sad one; indeed, the history of farm workers in South Africa in general, and also elsewhere in the world, is often one of hardship.  But the ‘dop’ system, and its ongoing effects over many generations, adds another dimension to disempowered and marginalised grape farm communities.”  It likens the history of our wine industry to that written about by John Steinbeck in ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, first published in 1939.

The first vines were planted by Jan van Riebeeck in 1655, and four years later the first wine was produced in Wynberg – Van Riebeeck wrote: “Today, praise be to God, wine was made for the first time from Cape grapes… mostly Muscadel and other white, round grapes, very fragrant and tasty”. 

South Africa is predominantly a beer drinking nation, the book states, with 65% of the population drinking this beverage, as opposed to only 15 % drinking wine.  In 2009, 1089 million litres of wine, brandy and grape juice were produced.  Of the total of 125000 hectares planted under vines, 81 %  was used for wine production and the balance for table grapes in 2009.  The number of grape farm workers is estimated at 30000 – 50000 permanent staff, and ‘many thousands’ of seasonal workers.  Half of the 396 million liters of wine that was produced in 2009 was exported. 

The book tells the stories of interesting wine personalities:

*   Mohammed Karaan, now Dean of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch University, is quoted as saying:”The wine industry takes money. It is squandered on image and ego, these are not good values, the downside of the industry is that it destroys human capital, along with its stepbrother, the fruit industry.  I used to be astounded at how fellow students justified the ‘dop’ system.  And now they are saying that wine is good for the heart…  All politicians have a romanticism around wine, they’re intoxicated with wine.  They were going to legislate against ‘papsakke’.  Nothing happened.”

*   Spatz Sperling of Delheim was one of the driving forces in wine marketing, and the legal constraints of wine-selling locally and to overseas markets led to his pioneering marketing, often more for the benefit of the industry than for his own brand

*   Michael Back, owner of Backsberg, is the first wine farm to become carbon-neutral in South Africa, and is the third in the world

*   Professor Mark Solms, whose aim is to not lose money with his farm Solms-Delta: “Wine is not the way to make money quickly; my long-term view is that what will make it truly sustainable is doing it excellently”.  He added: “Only by delving into the social history of the farm could I properly understand it.  What needed to be done was to understand the nature of the problem in order to change it. I found things I wouldn’t have anticipated: people had no hope, no sense of the future.  They were at best fatalistic, and most were clinically depressed”.  The Solms-Delta Oesfees is written about in the book, as is the trust in which the farmworkers have ownership, with owners Mark Solms and Richard Astor. 

Interesting wine industry facts are spread throughout the book:

*  Constantia wines were acclaimed, and Vin Constance was enjoyed by royalty, including King Frederick the Great of Prussia, King George IV, King Louis-Philippe, and Napeolean Bonaparte, amongst others.

*   Muratie’s first owners, when the farm was named ‘De Driesprong’, were Lourens Campher and the freed slave Ansela van de Caab, and was handed to them by Willem Adriaan van der Stel in 1699.

*  Evidence of a Stone Age civilisation from 4000 – 6000 years ago was found when renovation work was done at Solms-Delta, after Mark Solms bought the farm in 2002.

*   One needs at least R25 million to buy a farm, and ‘the margins are paper thin for growing grapes for basic wine”, Professor Joachim Ewert from Stellenbosch University is quoted as saying.  He says it takes three generations to make money on a wine farm. Added to this, is that many foreign owners have bought wine farms, for ‘status and the snob value of your own wine label…’.  One of the main findings of the book, the writers state, “…has been a revelation to find that not only have wine farmers always struggled to survive, but that still today wine farming is marginal.” 

*   Wine farms are not always well-known for their wines, but often more for their owners, e.g. Jan Boland Coetzee, the rugby player who makes wine at Vriesenhof; Beyers Truter who has become known as ‘Mr Pinotage’, of Beyerskloof; Dr Paul Cluver is a brain surgeon; Professor Mark Solms is a neurologist.

*   Good ‘table wine’ has only been produced in the past 15 years, WOSA CEO Su Birch is quoted as saying, with only Meerlust, Delheim and Kanonkop known to make good wines before this time. 

*   The Stellenbosch Wine Route was the first route to open, in 1972, and was the brainchild of Spatz Sperling of Delheim, Frans Malan of Simonsig, and Neil Joubert of Spier, the first of now 15 wine routes in the country. 

*   Spatz Sperling of Delheim, Frans Malan from Simonsig, and Sydney Back of Backsberg got the Wine of Origin wine certification system established 

*   Distell’s Nederburg, JC le Roux and Graça, as well as Van Loveren’s Four Cousins, sell well in our ’emerging markets’ (a nice way to say ‘township’), the book states, and Nederburg Baronne in particular is known in Soweto as the ‘Coca Cola wine’. 

*   The ‘dop’ system is not South African in origin, and was probably introduced by the French Huguenots

*   South African wine production appears least likely to be affected by climate change, most wine-producing areas, other than the Northern Cape, having the lowest average increase in temperature of all wine-producing regions in the world.  Yet more costly water and climate change will influence berry ripening, and will lead to earlier harvests and to different wine styles being produced.

*  Wines were sold in supermarkets in 1966 for the first time.

*   ‘Black-owned’ wine farms include Constantia Uitsig, Bloemendal and D’Aria (Tokyo Sexwale having a part ownership) and Sexwale’s fully owned Oude Kelder in Franschhoek; Paardenkloof owned by Valli Moosa; and M’Hudi Wines, owned by the Rangaka family.

*   Empowerment schemes for grape farm workers include Malmaison near Groblershoop; Beyerskloof; Naftali Estate at Dyasonsklip; black consortia own shares in Distell and the KWV; ’empowerment’ wine brands include Epicurean Wines, Ses’fikile; LaThiThá Wines; and Thabani. 

‘Grape’ moves backwards and forwards in time in presenting an overview of far more than the labour on grape farms, and this is its weakness.  It has so much material to cover that the book loses focus in the presentation of its wealth of information. Making so much in its build up of the exploitation of mainly ‘Coloured’ farm workers on such farms, as well as the production of ‘cheap wines’ to target this population group, it is a surprise when the book’s “Last Word” paints a depressing future for the industry, which “is facing incredibly tough times”,  “soaring production costs”, “poor return on their product”, a “changing climate”, and a “strong rand”. “Very few farmers are making a profit; many wine farms are on the market”.  Given this scenario of a challenging future, one gets the feeling that the authors backed off their initial tough stance, as all these challenges that the industry faces will affect the workers on these farms, as well as their livelihoods.   For the wine and table grape industry currently survival is a greater priority than its continued transformation!

Jeanne Viall, Wilmot James & Jakes Gerwel: ‘Grape – Stories of the Vineyards in South Africa’.  Tafelberg.  2011. www.tafelberg.com

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage

‘Taste of Cape Town’ offers a taste of Cape Town and Winelands restaurants

I have enjoyed attending the Taste of Cape Town, run in our city for the past four years, and the first one in Camps Bay, as well the one in Mowbray last year, were particularly enjoyable in respect of the large number of diverse participating restaurants and wine estates, as well as easy and ample parking.

Every year the venue has changed, and this year the Restaurant showcase will be held at the Green Point Cricket Club.  Inexplicably, the dates for the event were moved from April, which would have meant better weather, to today until 8 May, and no wine estates are on show, compared to their presence in the past years.  The ‘Taste of…’ showcases are held in major cities around the world, and the one in Cape Town has been organised by Justine Drake since its inception. 

The 14 participating restaurants are Bistro Sixteen82 (Chef Brad Ball serving sticky five-spiced free-range pork belly); Il Leone Mastrantonio (its chef Daniel Toledo serving a selection of Italian specialities);   Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine from Stellenbosch (Eat Out Top 10 George Jardine will offer barrel-smoked kingklip fettucine, Chalmar sirloin, foie gras bourguignon, as well as a buffalo milk yoghurt mousse with Valrhona chocolate); Nobu from the One&Only Cape Town (serving yellowtail sashimi, pork belly with spicy miso, and Japanese halibut with den miso); Pierneef à La Motte’s chef Chris Erasmus will offer Cape Bokkom salad, smoked lamb’s rib with pickled tongue, dried pear dumplings and verjuice poached pear, and milk tart;  Simply Asia;  Wang Thai;  Societi Bistro; Planet Restaurant at the Mount Nelson with Chef Rudi Liebenberg; GOLD; Taj Cape Town; Fyndraai Restaurant from Solms Delta, with chef Shaun Schoeman; and Savour Restaurant at 15 on Orange. 

One can try three dishes at each stand, and one uses crowns to the value of R5 to pay for the dishes, each dish having a different crown value.  Additional attractions are the Eat In Small Produce Market, which will have Buffalo Ridge mozzarella, preserves from Oded’s Kitchen, Tasha’s fudge, La Petite France camembert, and Willow Creek olive oil to taste, amongst others.   Pick ‘n Pay’s Fresh Living Theatre Chef’s Theatre will offer chef’s demonstrations, including Pete Goffe-Wood talking about SASSI, and one can learn how to make canapés at the Pick ‘n Pay Wine & Canapé Experience.  The Grolsch Beer Academy and the Johnnie Walker Whisky Theatre will offer liquid refreshments.

POSTSCRIPT 8/5:  After struggling to find parking anywhere reasonably close by on Friday evening, we went to the Taste of Cape Town yesterday at 13h00, a good time as far as parking went, but a day-time visit with relatively fewer people did not have the same magic as all my previous evening attendances, mainly because one enjoys bumping into other foodlovers.  I was impressed to see so many top chefs hands-on in their food preparation, in what must feel like a production line for them, being George Jardine of Jordan Restaurant, Stefan Marais of Societi Bistro, Chris Erasmus of Pierneef à La Motte, and Brad Ball of Bistro Sixteen82. 

I spent my R100 on 20 crowns on Jordan Restaurant’s Aged Chalmar sirloin and foie gras bourguignon (left), on Bistro Sixteen82’s Sticky five-spiced free-range pork belly with salted caramel and apple celeriac espuma (right), as well as on Societi Bistro’s chicken liver parfait on toast with pineapple chutney.  I was surprised to see a number of wine estates exhibiting as well, not having seen any information about them on the website:  Arumdale, De Wetshof, Hermanuspietersfontein, Idiom Wines, Neil Joubert, Noble Hill, Peter Falke Wines, Quion Rock, Rickety Bridge, Steenberg, Thelema, Van Loveren, Wedderwill, and even Jorgensen Distillery, which is on the list but which I did not see. There was a stand for Whale Tale Ale, which I had never heard of before, but which I must connect with.

The Eat In Small Producers’ Market was spread over two tents, and they are a little lost, not being in the flow of the restaurants and wineries.  I enjoyed meeting Wayne Rademeyer of Wellington’s mozzarella producer Buffalo Ridge, Tina Bester of the Queen of Tarts, tasted excellent frozen yoghurt from an aptly named Scoop, and was impressed with the fresh organic vegetables from The Drift, owned by father and son team David and Bruce Jack of Flagstone Wines.

Taste of Cape Town, Green Point Cricket Club, 5 and 6 May 18h30 – 22h30, Saturday 7 May 13h00 – 17h00 and 18h30 – 22h30, and 8 May 12h00 – 17h00.  Entrance costs R70 with a wine glass, or R160 for a wine glass and crowns to the value fo R100.  Book at www.tasteofcapetown.com or www.computicket.com.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:  www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Winestyle and TASTE crush Crush! digital food and wine magazine!

We have written about Crush!1, Crush!2 and Crush!3, Michael Olivier’s digital food and wine magazine, which he launched last year.   As other publications are being launched which embrace food and wine, both digitally and in print, I chose to evaluate Crush!4 against its competitors, putting myself in the shoes of a food and/or wine marketer, deciding where to spend a marketing budget, and as a food and wine lover, deciding where to spend my time reading.   I evaluated Winestyle, TASTE, and Crush!4, all three magazines focusing on food and wine, with a Postscript on Crush!5.

Winestyle

The first (Summer) issue of Winestyle was sent to subscribers (note one does not pay to receive the magazine) in December, and its concept is a most creative and environmentally-friendly “print on demand” one.  This saves the publishers from over-printing, saving paper and costs, and ultimately the environment.  It is published quarterly.  What makes it unique is that a weekly newsletter is sent by e-mail to each subscriber, updating them on food and wine news.  While the brand carry-over is not strong in terms of the banner design of the newsletter (initially I thought the newsletters were from wine consultant Nikki Dumas, who has a similar company name).   This builds brand awareness weekly, and bridges the quarterly print publishing period.

The 88-page magazine is larger than the standard A4 size, and has an attractive cover, although it is not photographed in a vineyard.  The paper quality is outstanding, as is the photography.  Editor Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright is from Warwick wine estate originally, where her mother Norma and brother Mike make excellent wines, and this makes Jenny well-connected to the wine industry.  In her editorial Jenny writes: “It is our intention to help everyone make full use of every wine-drinking day …. it’s your passport to all things enjoyable, to in-the-know wines, delicious and simple-to-prepare food and accessible travel – all in a large, sexy, glossy, collectible magazine”.   The theme of the Summer edition is celebration, and therefore champagnes and sparkling wines are predominantly featured.

Advertising support is impressive for a first edition, and reflects the confidence of the advertisers in the publication, and wine estates Graham Beck,  Glen Carlou, Clos Malverne, Kleine Zalze,  Nederburg, Highlands Road Estate, OBiKWA, Creation, Eikendal, Adoro Wines, Muratie, and Morgenhof have taken full-page ads.  Jenny anticipates having 2500 subscribers by the time the next issue is launched in March.

The editorial content includes a focus on sparkling wine producers in Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, including JC le Roux, Simonsig, Villiera, Morgenhof, Cabrière, Graham Beck, Anura, and Sterhuis, and recommends accommodation and restaurants in the area.  A profile on a very casual looking Jean-Philippe Colmant, making excellent bubbly in Franschhoek and importing champagnes, is written by Cape Talk’s John Maytham.  A travel feature focuses on the Champagne region, which is informative and has beautiful photographs.  A food feature focuses on Tapas, with short recipes, and amazing photography by Christoph Heierli.  A Restaurant feature recommends places offering ‘alfresco dining’ in Johannesburg, Durban, the Winelands and Cape Town.   A feature on cocktails has some that call for sparkling wine. The results of a wine-tasting, a panel comparing South African sparkling wines Silverthorn, Colmant Brut, Villiera, Jacques Bruére, and Simonsig, with champagnes Moët & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot, Piper-Heidsieck, Pol Roger and Tribaut Brut Tradition, are featured.  Joint first winners were Silverthorn the Green Man Brut and Tribaut Brut Tradition.  A tasting panel evaluation of the 2010 vintage Sauvignon Blanc of Groote Post, David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner, Neil Joubert, Arabella, Sophie Terblance, Delaire, Diemersdal, Klein Constantia, De Grendel and Du Toitskloof ranks them in this order.  An article on cigars concludes what must be the most excellent food and wine publication available locally now.

I cannot wait for the Autumn edition.  I do recommend that there be more synergy between the magazine and the newsletter as well as its website in terms of branding and design.  Of the three magazines reviewed in this blogpost, Winestyle is the best by far, and we congratulate editor Jenny on this achievement for her maiden issue.

TASTE

Woolworths’ in-house magazine is written and published by New Media Publishing, and they have regularly won ADMag and Pica Awards for Customer Magazine of the Year for it, most recently in 2009.   It costs R20,95, is published monthly, and is sold in outlets other than Woolworths too.   It is A4 in size, with 134 pages, and does not have a statement to describe what it stands for, but its cover photograph represents food.  Wines appear to be a secondary focus.  The editor is highly regarded Sumien Brink, with Abigail Donnelly ably at her side.

Advertisers are a mixed bunch, including car retailers, liquor brands (Darling Cellars, Krone, Bombay Sapphire, Veuve Cliquot, Brand House), watch brands, kitchen suppliers, decor brands, food brands (Lancewood, Lindt), investment companies, a restaurant (Cape Town Fish Market), and accommodation, most of the brands not sold by Woolworths at all.

The editorial content of the December issue includes a Trends feature, and food related trends are featured with beautiful large photographs by Lee Malan and Jan Ras.  Where recipes are featured, they are short and sweet, and do not dominate the look of any page (something competitors House and Leisure Food can learn from).  A Foodstuff feature focuses on products that are sold at Woolworths, but most are non-branded items, and the Woolworths link is very low key. It even has an interview with and one done by Andy Fenner, who writes the JamieWho? blog, a contributor to Crush! issues 2, 3 and 4, but he has withdrawn his support, probably due to his new (not yet clearly defined) involvement with Woolworths, and not wanting to be associated with his friend David Cope’s disparaging Twitter campaign against ourselves, in retaliation to our review of Crush!3.   A chicken feature by man-of-the-moment Justin Bonello, a fish focus by Sam Woulidge, a canapé feature by Mariana Esterhuizen of Mariana’s, a feature on Dewetshof by Woolworths wine consultant Allan Mullins, and a feature on Oded Schwartz of Oded’s Kitchen and his relishes, chutneys and preserves, follow.  Christmas recipes are featured, but are few in number.  Restaurants featured are the fabulous Babel on Babylonstoren (next door to Backsberg), and the heavenly Hemelhuijs.  Blueberries are featured, with recipes, as are Summer lunch recipes.  An exclusive extract from Australian Bill Granger’s receipe book “Bill’s Basics” is featured.  A travel feature by Judy van der Walt focuses on the Dordogne region, and the magazine ends off with a month’s worth of recipes for snacks, lunches, tea time, and suppers.

I hadn’t bought a TASTE magazine for a while, and remembered it to be more attractive and impactful.  The focus may be too much on recipes, and too little on wines.   The features are written by good quality journalists, and could possibly be expanded.   I liked the way Woolworths as a brand is not ‘in your face’ when reading the magazine – in fact I wouldn’t have minded more direct brand-linkage, to know what to look for when next I shop.  There are so many organic and other quality suppliers to Woolworths of fruit and vegetables and other foods, as well as of wines, which could all be the subject of features, not necessarily linked to recipes only.  A “new Woolworths products” feature would be welcome.  For a marketer, TASTE would be an important advertising medium to consider, given its association with Woolworths, and the profile of the Woolworths shopper, with a reasonable disposable income.    There is little carry-over between the magazine and its website.

Crush!4

The digital food and wine magazine Crush! has no print partner, and is haphazard in its publishing frequency. On Twitter the editorial team hint at how busy they are in doing work for the publication, but on average it appears to take them two months or longer to publish a new issue.  The arrival of the new magazine is announced on Twitter and by e-mail, as one has to subscribe to receive a link to it, and is free of charge.

Crush!4  has 44 pages and was published early in December.  It appears to have lost its restaurant reviewer JP Rossouw, and Olivier has taken over writing the restaurant reviews, something we suggested in one of our earlier Crush! reviews.   We are delighted with another of our recommendations that Olivier adopted, which was to let (lady) bloggers participate in his magazine, and he has done so by giving highly regarded blogger Jane-Anne Hobbs from Scrumptious blog a recipe feature, and he has introduced a recipe competition, in which the recipes of bloggers Colleen Grove, Jeanne Horak-Druiff, Meeta Khurana-Wolff and Nina Timm can be evaluated by readers.

The navigation of the pages, and more particularly the content on each page, remains tedious. The front cover looks better, the copy on top of the photograph being easier to read, but it is not yet perfect, especially when one compares the ‘less is more’ covers of the two other magazines above.  Most flashing gimmicks have been removed from the front cover, and have largely been discontinued.   Advertising support is poor, and appears reduced relative to previous issues, and compared to the two other publications above, with only Hidden Valley, Pongracz, Laborie, Old Mutual and Ultra Liquors advertising.

The content consists of a wine page written by Olivier, and features premium brandy cocktails, a vineyard dog, wine finds, a wine myth and an overview of Sauvignon Blanc.  The Essentials page, as before, has products with poor brand recognition, but the names are typed alongside each product.  A Plaisir de Merle feature is a good promotion for the wine estate.  The recipe pages by Jane-Anne Hobbs have fantastic photography done by herself (perhaps she should become the Crush!photographer!), but I could only get to see three recipes (soup, dessert, gammon) – I am sure there were more, judging by the six bottles alongside the opening recipe, and Olivier recommends a wine per recipe.   The names of the wines are not typed alongside the bottles.   The JamieWho? page by Andy Fenner is blocked by a Laborie promotion box, still has silly moving balloon captions, and focuses on Absinthe, Champagne, Hangover Cures, Jardine’s Christmas cake,  and Christmas cocktails.  In two of his mini-stories the copy ends mid-sentence.  The review of Babel Restaurant at Babylonstoren is blocked by a competition box, and one does not know how to close it.  Restaurant names at the bottom of the Babel article are harder to read on the right hand side, especially ‘Cafeen’.

A seven-day recipe card feature by Carey Boucher-Erasmus (a food consultant to the Pick ‘n Pay Cookery School, according to Google) is easy to follow and read, but no information is supplied about who Carey is.  There is no consistency in the colours used for the names of white and red wines alongside the bottles, the white wine names typed in blue (High Five) or in green (Quaff Now).   Sophia Lindop does great food features, but has used herbs in the last two issues (rocket in the current issue and rosemary last time), making it hard to see dishes prepared with these, and thus to have attractive photographs, even if they are photographed by star photographer Russel Wasserfall.   David Cope outs himself as a guest house reviewer, of South Hills, presented on a messy red and white check background which is similar to that which he uses on his ‘The Foodie’ blog.  A summer picnic spead looks good enough to eat off the screen, and is prepared by Luisa Farelo, but there is no indication as to who she is (I could not find any information about her on Google).  The focus on Parlotones wines, named after the group, is fun in having their music videos, but I did struggle to get one to play properly.  I also struggled to find the way to open the Prince Albert feature by Russel Wasserfall, eventually finding it at the bottom right, in the smallest possible type size.  A feature on trendy Artisan Breads tells the Knead story, with colour photographs, and mentions the names of only five other artisanal bakeries around the country – there are that many others in Cape Town alone!  Helen Untiedt’s organic vegetable garden, and a Book Review page conclude Crush!4.

My overwhelming frustration with Crush! is the difficulty of reading it, and the struggle to move forward or to close what one has opened.  The promotional boxes blocking copy remains a problem, which cheapens the magazine and is irritating to have to close.  Perhaps Olivier and the design team can look at Opulent Living’s e-magazine, only 8 pages long but published regularly – it is easy to read, has no promotions, with beautiful photographs – a top class digital magazine!   I was interested to see the Crush! blogger recipe rating, and the low participation is a surprise (the highest vote is by only 100 readers after two months), given Olivier’s claim that the magazine would go to more than 1 million readers!     If I were a marketer, I would not advertise in Crush!, as a digital magazine cannot present a food or wine brand with the appetite appeal that a print magazine can, especially given the poor pack presentation.  I would therefore love to see a print version of Crush!, as it contains lots of good information, and could make for beautiful pages of copy and photography, something one would want to keep.

POSTSCRIPT 8/2: 

Crush!5 was launched today.  JamieWho? (Andy Fenner) has been replaced by Neil Stemmet, a talented interior designer, and he adds an Afrikaans dimension to Crush!, with all five his recipes in Afrikaans on his “Soutenpeper” page (this is causing a problem for English readers!).  David Cope has lost his name, and is only referred to as “The Foodie”, with no red and white check background to his contributions anymore, and both his article on Paternoster, and on FoodWineDesign in Johannesburg (held in November!!), are long-winded and boring, with few attractive photographs.   Jane-Anne Hobbs (unfortunately) has been replaced by Clare Bock (owner of Appetite catering company, I learnt from Google) in a food/wine matching feature – by chance I worked out how this feature works – if you click on a wine bottle, an appropriate recipe pops up, rather than finding an appropriate wine to match the recipe!   The five food bloggers in the recipe rating section are complete unknowns.  Luisa Farelo (with an introduction in this issue – she is a chef and food stylist) does another feature, this time on Sunday lunches, and the styling is good enough to eat again.  A food and wine events calendar is a good new addition, while a classifieds section probably is not, the ads being so small that one cannot read them.  A feature on The Test Kitchen, and owner and chef Luke Dale-Roberts, is good with great food photographs, as is the one on Jordan Winery, but the labels underneath the bottles are so tiny that one may not see them.  The interview with Bertus Basson of Overture (Michael is a stickler for spelling, but misspells the restaurant name in his introduction) is weird, and probably does not do him a favour.  Advertisers are Fairview, Pongracz, Old Mutual, and Avocado magazine.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com   Twitter: WhaleCottage

Restaurant Review: Opal Lounge most pretentious restaurant in Cape Town

The menu and business card of the Opal Lounge claims that it is the most beautiful restaurant in Cape Town.   It could more aptly be called the most arrogant and pretentious restaurant in Cape Town.   This is the restaurant that, at its time of opening about a year ago, charged for tap water.  A review by ‘Rossouw’s Restaurants’ quickly made the restaurant drop this policy.

The reason for trying out the restaurant was a Valentine’s promotion e-mail which had been received from the restaurant, and the menu that came with it, which looked excellent.  

On arrival we were met by Conrad, who opened the glass door for us, as a gale force south-easter was blowing.  Immediately we were struck by his pretentious greeting, full of airs and graces, which made us feel unwelcome.    He has previously worked as a waiter at Emily’s and Ginja, as well as at overseas restaurants. 

About half an hour later the manager Francois Hough introduced himself, and asked rather aggressively why I was taking notes about his menu and his winelist, who I was and where I was from.  I told him that I write a blog.    I told him that I had to take notes as their website is under construction.  I asked him for his surname, but he refused to give it to me.  He became more friendly as the evening wore on, but did not seem to know how to deal with feedback presented when he asked for it.  He was previously at Paranga, Pepenero and Manolo. 

The restaurant is based in a lovely house, built in 1897, on Kloof Street, and was previously the home of Manolo (not having been shy in the arrogance department either), and a restaurant with French chefs before that.  The building seems to have had little staying power or luck for the previous owners.  It has two lounges, one being an open plan one off the passage, where the Manolo bar and one of the dining rooms used to be.   Two other rooms are used as dining rooms.  The room on the right to the entrance was unbearably hot.  The room we chose became hotter as the evening wore on, and the airconditioner seemed to make little headway in cooling the room to a more acceptable temperature.

The promotional letter describes The Opal Lounge as “Sophisticated yet very homely”, a contradiction in terms.  “Not an ordinary restaurant, but one which has been styled with passion and attention to detail to give your guests an extraordinary dining experience“, boasts the promotional letter (its writing in bold). 

The menu says “Our sincere hope is that you have a glorious experience in any one of our Lounges; that you leave happy, and in the truth that everything we endeavour to do for you on this occasion will bring you back to make this your second home” (underlining as per the menu)!   Our experience was exactly the opposite.

The winelist is beautifully presented in a heavy black leather folder, and has commendable descriptions eloquently written for its extensive collection of wines, not only describing each vintage in great detail, but also each wine.  This is how the Pierre Jourdan Cuvee Bella Rose is described, for example: “Bella Rose has the faintest tinge of salmon pink, a lively presentation of Pinot Noir flavours, a pleasing fine mousse and it reveals an elegant dry finish.  The discreet blush of Belle Rose is emphasized in the name the “beautiful rose””.  This is copywriting at its best!

Interesting was seeing that the red wines are listed before the white wines.   Champagnes stocked are Veuve Cliquot, ranging between R 800 – R 1 200, Bollinger Brut at R 860, Krug at R 2 400, Pol Roger at R 800 and Moet Chandon at R 650.   Cap Classiques range from R 140 for the Eikendal to R 275 for Pierre Jourdan Blanc de Blanc and Cuvee Bella Rose.  Pinot Noir wines ranged in price from R 230 for the Catherine Marshall to R 645 for Hamilton Russell.  The Shirazes cost between R 165 for the Neil Joubert and R 410 for Kevin Arnold.  Grootte Post’s Merlot costs R 175, while that of Veenwouden and Meerlust costs R 410.   Chardonnay ranges from R 165 for Eikendal and Haute Cabriere, to R 585 for one from Hamilton Russell.  The Sauvignon Blanc is priced in a range from R 130 (Eikendal) to R 195 (Steenberg).  

Our first problem arose when we ordered the wine, wanting the 2005 vintage of Warwick Three Ladies, as per the winelist.   The vintage had run out, we were told.  Another two wine choices followed, with the advertised vintages not being in stock.  Our fourth choice was a Steenberg Merlot, and the 2007 vintage as per the winelist was available.   Conrad offered to chill down the wine for us, something we have never been offered for a red wine before.  We declined the offer, being happy with it at room temperature.   The Manager came to explain that the restaurant is re-doing its winelist, and that he had worked with owner Rochelle Bushell on it that day, to update it.  He promised that Rochelle would call the following day.  She did not.  Strangely, after being open for a year, the restaurant’s website is under construction.  

The black leather menu is very descriptive, and each dish gets the copy-writing treatment but over-promises what is presented.   Eight starters include a summer soup, strawberry gazpacho, prawns, Caesar salad, venison dim sum, salmon carpaccio and mushroom tortellini, ranging in price from R 45 – R 77.   The mushroom tortellini is described as follows: “A medley of mushrooms combined with mild goats cheese and stuffed into pasta parcels.  Served with sliced prosciutto, a fresh asparagus salad and truffle dressing.  Finished with a light preserved lemon hollandaise”.   The amuse bouche was a tasty wonton with beef, cottage cheese, and olive, served in a lemon hollandaise sauce.  The Mushroom Tortellini did not deliver on its promise, no prosciutto being found in the dish, and the “asparagus salad” was 6 tiny slivers of asparagus used to decorate the plate.  

Nine main courses are offered, including oxtail, tuna, venison, lamb, duck, beef fillet, line fish and mushroom, ranging from R 105 – R 151.  The Exotic Duck is described as “An exotic dish of duck served 4 different ways. Pan seared duck breast on mange tout, confit leg on pomme de terre croquette, duck liver and thyme wonton, and finally finished off with crispy duck skin. Served with mango salsa, orange gastrique and carrot puree”.  The duck skin was two tiniest 20 cent size pieces, which were shown to the waiter to illustrate the overpromise of the menu, and was not “crispy”.  He did not react to this feedback.  The Manager’s reaction was a lame “I’m sorry”.    The fillet steak was served as tiny thin slices, with an olive oil mash, good in taste but not enough to satisfy a young student.   After the main course a mango and passion fruit “palate cleanser” was served.

The dessert list offers six choices, ranging from R 45 – R 60, as well as a luxury dessert platter for two to share, with a selection of desserts, at R 95.  A cheese platter is also available.  The chocolate mousse dessert promised a peppermint centre, but there was none.  The small slice of chocolate mousse cake was lost on the large plate that it was served on, and tiny specs of peppermint were found at the end tips of it.  It was accompanied by a semi-fredo.   I am a cappuccino addict, but could only manage to finish half of it, it being too milky.  We were charged in full for it, even though I told the waiter that I was not happy with it.

The Head Chef at The Opal Lounge is Robert Miguiez, and the Executive Sous Chef is Steven Kruger, previously with Ginja and Portofino.

NOTE: The day after our dinner on 22 March, for which we had paid R 770, I received a call from Malcolm Bushell, who introduced himself as the husband of Rochelle Bushell and a director of the company.   In the most rude, abusive and threatening manner, he told me in no uncertain terms that if my review (only written on 26 March and posted today for the first time) were to contain any “lies”, or was disparaging, he would have no hesitation to seek legal advice, and also told us to not return to the restaurant.  He was not interested in hearing what the customer feedback was about the experience at the restaurant, doing the “my staff are perfect” routine, and did not allow the customer to speak.   There was no “thank you” for the custom.   When I told him that I would share this call experience with friends Gudrun and Barry Clark, who were also at the restaurant that evening, he said he did not care, and that they too would no longer be welcome!   It is clear to see from whence the arrogance of the staff of this restaurant comes!

The Opal Lounge, 30 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape Town. Tel 021 422 4747.  www.theopallounge.co.za   Open Mondays – Sundays for dinner only.  Open for lunch for corporate bookings only.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com