I was invited by Martyn Mills to participate in a tasting of the brand new handcrafted pink Gem Gin, designed to appeal to women in particular, being feminine and elegant in its brand personality. The Tasting was hosted at Distillers & Union in Woodstock. It was a form of market research in which I have not previously participated. Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Robert Redford has expressed his delight in drinking Chenin Blanc, he shared at a special private lunch hosted in his honour by his friend Analjit Singh in Franschhoek last weekend. He said about the variety: ‘I’ve experienced white wine in the Napa Valley in California, but never something like this. Chenin blanc (sic) came into my life via my experience in South Africa. When I came here, I was willing to explore all kinds of new things. When I heard about Chenin blanc (sic) I thought I’d never had that and when I had it, I knew I’d found something fresh and exciting – so much so that I’ve now become a fan of Chenin blanc (sic)‘. Last year Mr Singh acquired shares in Mullineux Family Wines, one of our country’s top Chenin Blanc producers.
* The 2014 Diageo Reserve World Class Global Finals Bartender of the Year competition, which was held at Gleneagles in Scotland and in London recently, has been won by Charles Joly from The Aviary in Chicago, in the face of 47 contenders for the title. South Africa was represented by Jeff Lopes from The Michelangelo Hotel. Joly’s winning cocktail was called ‘Above the Clouds‘. He will become a global ambassador for Diageo Reserve World Class. Cape Town will host the Global Finals next year! (received via media release from Communication Services Africa)
* Lanzerac is celebrating Heritage Day with a food feast on 24 September, commencing with a glass of its Alma Mater Rosé. A Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Cape Town will host the 14th World Summit of the Noble Peace Prize Laureates from 13 – 15 October, the first time that it will be held in Africa, report the Cape Times and Weekend Argus. A total of 1500 delegates is expected to meet at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, with the topic ‘Peace: living it’. Previous Noble Peace Prize recipients such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Walesa will join FW de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
* The largest number of international visitors to Cape Town in the third quarter of last year, ranked by figures just released by Wesgro, were from Germany, the USA, the UK, and Italy. Gauteng was the largest source of local visitors, followed by those from other parts of the Western Cape.
* Rio de Janeiro received close to 900000 visitors during the Soccer World Cup, spending $4,4 million, with more than half of the visitors planning to return in two years to attend the 2016 Olympic Games. The city hosted the closing Final, which was viewed by 3 billion TV viewers, and its iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer against a sunset was shown during the broadcast, as Continue reading →