Multi-wine and brandy brand company Distell was crowned as top producer at the Veritas Awards Gala Dinner at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday evening, winning two Double Gold and 12 Gold Awards. Distell also won Best Performer by Enry, in the 10+ Entry wine category. A total of 30 Double Gold and 130 Gold awards were awarded to 1760 entries. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: Warwick Thomas
25th Veritas Awards crown KWV as 2015 king of the wine industry!
Last night KWV was crowned as the king of the wine industry for the fifth year running, winning 5 Double Gold and 9 Gold Awards for its wines, more than any other winemaker. Nederburg (2 Double Golds and 11 Gold Awards) and Spier (2 Double Golds and 8 Gold Awards) followed in second and third place, respectively, awarded at one of the highlights of the wine industry, a function attended by about 400 wine industry staff and media, with their partners. Kanonkop won the Best Performance by Entry title for 10 wines or fewer entered, while KWV won the title for more than 10 wines entered. A total of 57 Double Gold, 157 Gold, 473 Silver, and 662 Bronze medals was awarded. A mix of local and international judges evaluated the entries.
Not only were the wines with their winemakers and related staff celebrated, so too was the 25th anniversary of the Veritas Awards. The highlight of the evening for me was seeing how many women Continue reading →
Cape Town International Jazz Festival positions Cape Town as Jazz Capital of Africa!
At the media launch yesterday of the 15th Cape Town International Jazz Festival at the Cape Town International Convention Centre Mayor Patricia de Lille said that the goal of Cape Town is to become the Events Capital of Africa, and with it the Capital of Jazz in Africa, attracting 37000 Festival goers. An exciting line-up of international and local jazz artists was announced at the launch.
The launch was addressed by a number of speakers. Billy Domingo, the Chief Operating Officer of espAfrika, the events company organising the Jazz Festival, was a witty MC for the event. Rashid Lombard organises the musical side of things, and announced that since ticket sales opened last month, all two-day passes have been sold,. There are about 500 day tickets available for each of the two days. The event is a team effort, within their company (of mainly ladies he joked) and also with the City of Cape Town. They want to create a legacy through the event, which includes a training and development 
programme which has already seen six students study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the USA. Job creation is another goal. Lombard proudly shared their Social Media statistics, having more than 14000 Twitter followers, close to 9000 Likes on Facebook, and 140000 YouTube views.
Lombard also presented the eagerly awaited line up for the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which includes top international jazz artists Level 42, Shakatak, Eryka Badu (but not mentioned in the media release), and Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya. Other international artists are Andreya Continue reading →