Tag Archives: semillon

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 →

Mulderbosch Faithful Hound 2013 top RisCura White Bordeaux Blend 2015!

MulderbochMulderbosch Faithful Hound 2013 was named the top Bordeaux-style White blend at the RisCura White Hot Wine Awards, held at Tjing Tjing Torli (in Dear Me) in Cape Town yesterday. The wine was made by Adam Masonimage and scored 94.

Winemag.co.za Business Manager Jacqueline Lahoud welcomed wine makers and writers, and announced that of 30 entries received, twelve scored 90 or more points out of 100. She said that Winemag is a digital platform for news about the wine industry and showcases its achievements. The first RisCura White Hot Wine Awards for Bordeaux Blends were presented in 2013. Earlier this year the first RisCura Red Hot Wine Awards for Bordeaux Blends were held in Stellenbosch. A niche had been identified to recognize Bordeaux Blends, and RisCura agreed to sponsor the awards. RisCura Continue reading →

Influential UK wine writer Jancis Robinson praises SA white wines, deserve more international attention!

Jancis Robinson Delaire GraffUK wine judge and writer Jancis Robinson spent most of this past week in the Cape Winelands, after a seven-year absence.  She spoke kindly about our industry, and offered insights into the UK and USA markets.  She wrote from Delaire Graff, where she had attended a Chenin Blanc tasting and stayed over: ‘South African wine is in full ferment. It deserves far more international attention than it is currently getting‘!

Unable to attend two public meetings addressed by Ms Robinson, I have looked for information aboutJancis Robinson her talks, admired by some, and slated by a few.

A detailed summary about Ms Robinson’s (with her husband Nick Lander) talk at #RootstockSA, held at Alleé Bleue, was written by Judy Bouwer of wine.co.za.   Key points she summarised were:

*   SA wine estates should target UK restaurants, which have far more reasonable mark-ups.  Young British people spend their money on food and wine, not being able to afford to buy Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 22/23/24 August

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The City of Cape Town is spending R3 million on the soccer match between Bafana Bafana and Nigeria for the Africa Confederation (AfCon) Cup qualifier at the Cape Town Stadium on 10 September. One wonders what benefit this would have for the tourism industry. In the past the soccer matches with international teams have not benefited our city and its tourism industry when former Councillor and Tourism Mayoral Committee member Grant Pascoe used this as his main strategy to try and boost tourism! (received via Twitter and Kfm)

*   UK wine writer Jancis Robinson praises Franschhoek as a gourmet and tourism town, but writes that there are few wineries. She describes it as a place ‘where the swallows make their own wine‘!  She highlights Boekenhoutskloof as the best known and Chamonix as the most consistently performing wineries in the village. She generally praises Franschhoek’s terroir as being ideally suited to Sémillon, and particularly winemaker Gottfried Mocke’s Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon blend, the 2012 vintage in particular.

*   Tourism booking cancellations have led Cape Town Tourism to issue a statement about Ebola:‘Cape Town Tourism would like to remind would-be visitors that there have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in South Africa during the recent outbreak. In Continue reading →