Tag Archives: Van Ryn’s

Fine Brandy Fusion: an evening of fine flavours, Bisquit takes the cake!

Fine Brandy Fusion This Is Brandy Whale Cottage PortfolioOn Thursday evening my friend Bettie Coetzee-Lambrecht and I attended Fine Brandy Fusion at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, having been invited by Manley Communications.   Fine Brandy Fusion is a fine showcase for the local brandy industry, the Bisquit cognac with South African links being our highlight.

At the registration desk we received a goody bag, and a booklet of coupons, to allow us to taste brandy cocktails and taste some of the 50 fine brandies neat.  Immediately on entering we passed a smallish restaurant, catered by the Convention Centre kitchen.  The food quality of the Convention Centre has been poor at every exhibition attended in the past, but picked up when its new Chef Warwick Thomas arrived a year ago, reaching a new low at World Travel Market Africa last month.  I was immediately sceptical, but the food options which were displayed in a refrigerated unit looked better (just from the plating) than I have ever seen there before.   We received two food couponsFine Brandy Fusion Food Whale Cottage Portfolio each, which Bettie used for linefish and I ordered tasty calamari rings, Bettie saying that it would be important to line our tummies for the brandy tasting to come.  We both ordered a cheese platter as well.  The service was excellent and professional, and the prices very reasonable at about R50 each.  We felt severely under-dressed when a fashionista wearing fur and her partner shared our table! Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 6 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Angola and Nigeria will be the two African countries on which Wines of South Africa (WOSA) will focus its attention, says new CEO Siobhan Thompson

*   Jancis Robinson chose two South African cultivars, out of a total of seven,  at a New York tasting of  ‘unusual grape varieties that typify an ongoing trend in wine to re-visit traditional grapes in their historical homes around the world‘, being Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc.

*   The price of petrol has decreased by 28 cents a liter.

*   Huffington Post Travel recommends ten wine destinations around the world, and includes ‘Cape Town’, but elaborates that the Cape Winelands is meant, and Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek in particular. Groot Constantia is recommended for a visit.   The other destinations are the Yarra Valley in Australia, Napa and Sonoma in the USA, Okanagan in Canada, Bordeaux in France, Finger Lakes in the USA, Mendoza in Argentina, Willamette Valley in the USA, Tuscany in Italy, and Barcelona in Spain.

*   New World wines from New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa make up 30% of world wine exports, states the Morgan Stanley report.

*  A bottle made from recycled paper and weighing only 65 Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines:5/6 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  A production first for New Media Publishing, synonymous with contract publishing, is an amazing video shot on the Franschhoek Pass for its client Mercedes Benz, called Silver Slipstream, in which Man (notorious skateboarder Decio Lourenco, who made headlines when he skated down Kloofnek Road) challenges Machine (Mercedes A 45 AMG) down the Pass, Man winning!

*   It was a wine weekend of note, with the fantastic 47% increase in sales income at R8,4 million at the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction at Spier, and the Veritas Awards ceremony held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.  The top Veritas performers, out of 1792 wines and brandies entered, are:

+  KWV, with 4 double gold and 13 gold medals, and named Continue reading →

‘Chefs who share’ cook up R1,2 million, demonstrating ‘The ART of Giving!

Chefs who share chefsAn unusual recipe of 14 top South African chefs working together in pairs of two in less than ideal temporary kitchen conditions set up outside the City Hall, supported by a sommelier and restaurant serving staff per chef pair, and serving 36 guests a unique four-course menu each, dreamt up by Opulent Living publisher Barbara Lenhard, saw R1195000 raised for charity on Thursday evening, alongside which Chefs who share Barbara Lenhard Whale Cottage Portfoliothe brand new Mercedes-Benz S Class was launched.

The A list event, which was covered by Top Billing and was MCd by Top Billing presenter Bonang Matheba and previous Top Billing and The Dr Mol Show presenter Dr Michael Mol, was first announced in May, and even though the tickets cost R3000, they were snapped up within a very short period of time, leaving many food lovers disappointed that they were Continue reading →