Tulbagh winery Saronsberg is our country’s top red wine producer when it comes to winning wine awards, its Full Circle being the most lauded red wine, followed by its Shiraz, over the past ten years. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: shiraz
2016 grape harvest to be smaller due to weather!
The dry weather and reduced rain in winter of 2016 is unusual, and will reduce the harvest in the Swartland, says Zakkie Bester, CEO and cellar master of Riebeek Cellars. The quality of the grapes may however be higher, with more concentrated flavours.
Bester shared his concern about the impact of the Continue reading →
Saronsberg Full Circle has not come full circle in 10 years, getting better and better!
Last week a number of writers was invited to a ten-year vertical tasting of Saronsberg Full Circle, the wine estate’s flagship brand, followed by lunch at the Cape Grace. While the reason for the choice of name is not known, the wine is likely to not come full circle, getting better and better with every vintage.
Winemaker Dewaldt Heyns has a wonderful ability to explain his wines, speaking with passion but without technicalities, remembering the 
peculiarities of each of the ten vintages which we tasted, without a note to refer to. The tasting was held in the recently refurbished Leeward Room, adjacent to the Signal restaurant and facing the refurbished pool area. During the tasting the glass sliding doors were closed when the pool chlorine could be smelt inside the venue. We were spread over four round tables, with chairs with unusual modern upholstery in black, grey, white and burgundy, in contrast to the green velvety drapes. I Continue reading →
Restaurant Review: Rivendell Restaurant a new start for Chef Thomas Sinn, whale of a good value!
Jardine at Jordan Manager and former Sinn employee Riaan Moll told me recently that Chef Thomas Sinn, once an Eat Out Top Restaurant Chef, has closed down all his restaurant interests in Cape Town, and has opened Rivendell Restaurant on the road to Hermanus, near the turn-off to Kleinmond and Arabella. On our way back from a trip to Hermanus my colleague and I found an oasis of 
food, in the middle of nowhere, offering a whale of a good value.
Rivendell is referred to in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, ‘Lord of the Rings’ amongst others, and means ‘deeply cloven valley‘, referring to the Bot River valley lying between two mountains. The wine estate Rivendell is owned by Austrian couple Heimo and Maria Talhammer, and they invited Chef Thomas to open the restaurant on their farm three months ago. The restaurant building is set back on the estate, and is not visible from the road to Hermanus. It was previously the tasting and functions venue, but the Continue reading →